Before one even reads this review lets get one thing straight. This is not and never will be a Godzilla film. This was Hollywood yet again taking a name and using it for nothing more then profit. Or lack there of. Recent films and TV used for name value have also proved to be pure failures or garbage such as Garfield, The Honeymooners (maybe the worst), Kojack, The Manchurian Candidate, Charlie and the Chocolate factory and to many to mention here. If anything it is a poor rip-off of many films, including The Beast from 20,000 fathoms, that was done much better back in the day.
"Godzilla" starts out in south pacific with French nuclear testing that mutates some islands and some iguanas at the same time. Years later some Japanese fisherman are attacked and their boat sunk. Devlin had to throw in the Japanese fisherman scene to have more than just the "Godzilla" name to his creature......it didn't work. Soon a monster is spotted near the Panama canal and they call in a bumbling worm scientist Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Broderick) who is also an expert on atomic energy. After looking at a big footprint he concludes that its a big mutated iguana. It heads north to New York where it makes its appearance and runs through the city for the rest of the movie. The military somehow can't manage to find the creature (yeah I'll buy that) and when they do, they fail miserably to even hurt it. Watch as advanced weapons seemingly miss this creature and hit major buildings in NY. Dr. Nick discovers that the beast is pregnant and is going to make a nest. Dr. Nick soon runs into his old flame Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo) a wannabe reporter who is a failure and eventually back stabs Dr. Nick, taking a top secret video for her breaking evening news report. She spills the beans about the monsters asexual reproduction (give me a break) getting Nicko fired from the military committee. Meantime some French have been watching everything and kidnap Nick to go destroy the monster and eggs. The reporters tag along and they find the nest in Madison square garden and the Jurassic park rip-off begins. They manage to escape only to be perused by a now angry monster parent, but lure "it" to the Brooklyn Bridge where F-18s finish it off with some missiles. Nick looks into the creatures eyes and mutters some nonsense reminiscent of yet another movie, King Kong. But of course they do leave an opening for a sequel. Thankfully it hasn't happened.
As a life long Godzilla fan you can imagine I was more than upset when this film came out. Not that it was any surprise. I had know through G-Fan since 1996 that this film would be garbage and it was confirmed as more time went by and pictures were revealed of this so called "Godzilla". This is not a Godzilla film in any way, but just a badly written generic monster flick that seems to rip off many films while ruining the legend from Japan. This was one of the most hyped films of 1998 and yet I knew it would fail and it did. Devlin had claimed how "Godzilla" would be far superior and better than the old one. How is that, by running away from the military, not having his trademark radioactive ray, being killed with one rocket and laying eggs? A complete disgrace. The design wasn't all that bad for a creature, but not Godzilla. From the script to the acting, almost everything in this film is just awful. The acting is really bad, the blonde cant act and Broderick is not only terrible, but plays a really stupid scientist that one can't possibly believe would be smart enough to be in the position he is in and defeat this creature. I was surprised that Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer didn't start spouting Simpsons lines halfway through the film. Also, the American military is a complete failure when trying to kill or find the creature. How about follow the foot prints? Through out the movie there are many attempts at humor that fail on all levels. When watching this film, you'll find that much of it is joke, not that the concept is that serious, but the Original Godzilla was somewhat. The script and dialog are terrible, along with a movie that is much to long and relies heavily on movies of the past for ideas. Godzilla (obviously), the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Jurassic Park, and a little of Kong at the end. Devlin and them ripped of War of the Worlds to make Independence Day. That worked out well I thought, but they failed miserably with Godzilla. The only area I give some credit to in this film are some of the special effects. I am not a fan of CGI by any means, but they were not bad in this film. Even today the CGI in this film holds up to more recent films that have been made. Although that's not saying much. Overall this is a poor film on almost all levels and was a opportunity squandered by Hollywood on what should have been a true Godzilla film. Overall 1 stars out of 10 stick to the Japanese version. Avoid the album as well its infamous for Puff Daddy destroying the legendary Led Zeppelin song Kashmir.
"Godzilla" starts out in south pacific with French nuclear testing that mutates some islands and some iguanas at the same time. Years later some Japanese fisherman are attacked and their boat sunk. Devlin had to throw in the Japanese fisherman scene to have more than just the "Godzilla" name to his creature......it didn't work. Soon a monster is spotted near the Panama canal and they call in a bumbling worm scientist Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Broderick) who is also an expert on atomic energy. After looking at a big footprint he concludes that its a big mutated iguana. It heads north to New York where it makes its appearance and runs through the city for the rest of the movie. The military somehow can't manage to find the creature (yeah I'll buy that) and when they do, they fail miserably to even hurt it. Watch as advanced weapons seemingly miss this creature and hit major buildings in NY. Dr. Nick discovers that the beast is pregnant and is going to make a nest. Dr. Nick soon runs into his old flame Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo) a wannabe reporter who is a failure and eventually back stabs Dr. Nick, taking a top secret video for her breaking evening news report. She spills the beans about the monsters asexual reproduction (give me a break) getting Nicko fired from the military committee. Meantime some French have been watching everything and kidnap Nick to go destroy the monster and eggs. The reporters tag along and they find the nest in Madison square garden and the Jurassic park rip-off begins. They manage to escape only to be perused by a now angry monster parent, but lure "it" to the Brooklyn Bridge where F-18s finish it off with some missiles. Nick looks into the creatures eyes and mutters some nonsense reminiscent of yet another movie, King Kong. But of course they do leave an opening for a sequel. Thankfully it hasn't happened.
As a life long Godzilla fan you can imagine I was more than upset when this film came out. Not that it was any surprise. I had know through G-Fan since 1996 that this film would be garbage and it was confirmed as more time went by and pictures were revealed of this so called "Godzilla". This is not a Godzilla film in any way, but just a badly written generic monster flick that seems to rip off many films while ruining the legend from Japan. This was one of the most hyped films of 1998 and yet I knew it would fail and it did. Devlin had claimed how "Godzilla" would be far superior and better than the old one. How is that, by running away from the military, not having his trademark radioactive ray, being killed with one rocket and laying eggs? A complete disgrace. The design wasn't all that bad for a creature, but not Godzilla. From the script to the acting, almost everything in this film is just awful. The acting is really bad, the blonde cant act and Broderick is not only terrible, but plays a really stupid scientist that one can't possibly believe would be smart enough to be in the position he is in and defeat this creature. I was surprised that Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer didn't start spouting Simpsons lines halfway through the film. Also, the American military is a complete failure when trying to kill or find the creature. How about follow the foot prints? Through out the movie there are many attempts at humor that fail on all levels. When watching this film, you'll find that much of it is joke, not that the concept is that serious, but the Original Godzilla was somewhat. The script and dialog are terrible, along with a movie that is much to long and relies heavily on movies of the past for ideas. Godzilla (obviously), the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Jurassic Park, and a little of Kong at the end. Devlin and them ripped of War of the Worlds to make Independence Day. That worked out well I thought, but they failed miserably with Godzilla. The only area I give some credit to in this film are some of the special effects. I am not a fan of CGI by any means, but they were not bad in this film. Even today the CGI in this film holds up to more recent films that have been made. Although that's not saying much. Overall this is a poor film on almost all levels and was a opportunity squandered by Hollywood on what should have been a true Godzilla film. Overall 1 stars out of 10 stick to the Japanese version. Avoid the album as well its infamous for Puff Daddy destroying the legendary Led Zeppelin song Kashmir.
