Godzilla (1998) Review

Godzilla


Release Date: 11th June 1998 - Australia


Production Companies
TriStar Pictures
Toho Film Co. Ltd
Fried Films
Centropolis Film Productions
Independent Pictures

Distribution
Sony Pictures Australia


Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: PG

Runtime: 139 minutes


Budget: $130,000,000

Box Office Gross: $379,014,294 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary

After the French had

tested their nuclear bombs

in the South Pacific, an

unknown creature was

spotted moving westward

through the Panama

Canal. The U.S.

government called in an

expert on the effects

of radiation on animals

named Niko Tatopoulos

to investigate the matter.

The scientist quickly

concludes that the

creature was a giant,

irradiated lizard created

by the explosions.

Godzilla(r) then makes

its way to New York City,

where he terrorises the

city by wreaking havoc,

and a massive battle with

the military begins. Will

this be enough to stop

the monster from causing

more rampage?

Cast
Matthew Broderick - Dr. Niko
"Nick" Tatopoulos
Jean Reno - Philippe Roache
Maria Pitillo - Audrey Timmonds
Hank Azaria - Victor "Animal"
Palotti
Kevin Dunn - Colonel Hicks
Michael Lerner - Mayor Ebert
Harry Shearer - Charles Caiman
Arabella Field - Lucy Palotti
Vicki Lewis - Dr. Elsie Chapman
Doug Savant - Sergeant O'Neal
Malcolm Danare - Dr. Mendel Craven
Lorry Goldman - Gene - Mayor's Aide
Christian Aubert - Jean-Luc
Philippe Bergeron - Jean-Claude
Frank Bruynbroek - Jean-Pierre
Nicholas J. Giangiulio - Ed
Robert Lesser - Murray
Ralph Manza - Old Fisherman
Greg Callahan - Governor
Chris Ellis - General Anderson
Nancy Cartwright - Caiman's Secretary (Cameo)
Richard Gant - Admiral Phelps
Jack Moore - Leonard
Steve Giannelli - Jules
Brian Farabaugh - Arthur
Stephen Xavier Lee - Lt. Anderson
Bodhi Elfman - Freddie
Glenn Morshower - Kyle Terrington

Gary A. Hecker - Creature Vocals

Frank Welker - Creature Vocals

Crew
Story/Screenplay/Executive Producer/
Director - Roland Emmerich
Story/Screenplay/Producer - Dean Devlin
Original Story - Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio
Executive Producers - Ute Emmerich

Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager:

Hawaii - William Fay
Co-Executive Producers - Robert N. Fried
and Cary Woods
Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager - Kelly Van Horn
Co-Producer - Peter Winther

Casting - April Webster and David Bloch
Production Designer - Oliver Scholl

Illustrators - Mauro Borrelli,

Sean Hargreaves, Patrick Janacke and

Tom Lay
Supervising Art Director - William Ladd Skinner
Art Director - Robert Woodruff
Set Decorator - Victor J. Zolfo

Property Master - Doug Harlocker
Costume Designer - Joseph A. Porro
Director of Photography - Ueli Steiger

Director of Photography: Falls Lake Unit - Chuck Shuman

"B" Camera Operator: New York Unit - Florian Ballhaus

First Assistant VistaVision Camera - Evan A. Neisbitt

First Assistant Director - Kim H. Winther

Second Assistant Directors - Lars P. Winther

and Paul F. Bernard
Second Unit Director - Josef Rusnak
Second Unit Director: New York Second Unit -

Peter Ramsey
Stunt Coordinator - R.A. Rondell
Stunt Coordinator: Second Unit - Troy Brown

Aerial Coordinator/Pilot - Kevin LaRosa

Animal Wrangler - Jules Sylvester
Mechanical Effects Supervisor - Clay Pinney

Mechanical Effects Main Unit Supervisor - Hans Metz

Mechanical Effects Supervisors: Second Unit -

Al Broussard and John Baker
Mechanical Effects Coordinator: New York Unit -

Steven Kirshoff
Godzilla Designer and Supervisor -
Patrick Tatopoulos

Paint Supervisor: Patrick Tatopoulos Designs -

Gino Acevedo

Sculpting Supervisors: Patrick Tatopoulos

Designs - Jose Fernandez and James Kagel

Visual Effects Supervisor - Volker Engel
Associate Visual Effects Supervisor - Karen E. Goulekas
Visual Effects Producer - Terry Clotiaux

Visual Effects Producer: Miniatures - Bob Hurrie

Executive Producer: CFX - Marc Kolbe

Visual Effects Supervising Art Director - Steven Legler

Visual Effects Director of Photography:

Miniatures - Anna Foerster

Miniature Special Effects Supervisor - Joe Viskocil
Miniature Visual Effects Supervisor - Don Baker

Flatiron and Chrysler Miniatures: Hunter/Gratzner

Industries, Inc - Matthew Gratzner, Ian Hunter

and Shannon Blake Gans

Model Shop Supervisor - Eugene P. Rizzardi

Supervisor: Stirber Visual Network -

John K. Stirber

Supervisor: Cinema Production Services -

Michael Joyce

Digital Effects Supervisor: SPI - Jerome Chen
Digital Effects Supervisor: VisionArt - Joshua D. Rose

Digital Effects Supervisor: Digiscope - Dion Hatch

Supervising Digital Artist: Digiscope - Grady Cofer
Digital Effects Producer - Fiona Bull

Digital Effects Producer: SPI - Julia Frey

Animation Supervisor: CFX - Andrew R. Jones
Animation Supervisors: VisionArt - Daniel Kramer

and Carl Hooper

Lead Animator: CFX - Matthew Hackett

Computer Graphics Supervisors: SPI -

Jim Berney and Scott Stokdyk

Supervising Technical Designers: SPI -

Kee-Suk 'Ken' Hahn, Michael J. Travers and

Thomas Hollier

Line Producer: CFX - Craig A. Mumma

Compositing Supervisors: CFX -

Cornelia Fauser-Ruemelin and Mitchell S. Drain

Director of R&D: VisionArt - Rob Bredow
Editors - Peter Amundson and David Siegel

Supervising Sound Editor - Per Hallberg

Co-Supervising Sound Editor - Wylie Stateman

Production Sound Mixer - José Antonio García

Re-Recording Sound Mixers - Kevin O'Connell

and Greg P. Russell
Music - David Arnold

Music Supervisor - Peter Afterman

Scoring Mixer - Shawn Murphy


Review
I never watched any of the old Godzilla movies except for this film. Roland Emmerich's version is not just disappointing and more to say. It's at its lowest acclaim that it needs checking. While the monster's design is nothing like the Godzilla we knew, the rest of the feature taking off Spielberg's Jurassic Park and The Lost World is not a joke. Badly-written humour and some choice of actors like Matthew Broderick and Hank Azaria being miscast aren't the only ones that weaken the film. The movie's moments are nauseous and make you want to leave. Jean Reno may be the only actor who accurately plays a French general. He's likely the only one in this unspectacular dud.

I used to see the feature a long while back in years, for now, and I completely forgot how much this film introduced me to the Godzilla lore. GODZILLA is just an atrocious and mindless abomination everyone doesn't want. It's very disappointing that the director did not use the old movies' faithful material to make the 1998 interpretation. For older Godzilla fans, this is an in-name-only version. For those new to the character, it's just your typical monster movie and nothing more. Don't see this one at home or with your mates, and wait for the reboot till' it comes out.

Star rating: (2/5) Bad Movie

Back to Home