Looking Back 14 Years Later

                                              

Those who’ve known me for long enough probably remember the intense love/hate relationship that I had with TriStar’s version of Godzilla. Released in 1998 under the title Godzilla, the film got a lot of mixed, but mostly negative feedback. Several hardcore fans damned the film as being a rip-off of Jurassic Park (1993) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). There were also scenes that seemed to mimic Aliens (1986) - primarily the nesting scene in Madison Square Garden.

It’s obvious that Roland Emerich’s Godzilla gave us a very different rendition of Godzilla then the one we’re all used to. Still, when you really study the Godzilla films and the transition back and forth between creative directions, you’ll notice that the Japanese Godzilla, himself has gone through many different versions. The original Godzilla from Ishiro Honda’s dark, post-nuclear film Gojira (1954) gave us an unstoppable force of nature capable of wiping out a city of millions in a single night. Twenty years later, we have films like Godzilla vs. Hedorah/Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) and Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) that show us a completely different creature. The new Godzilla of the 70’s was much more anthropomorphic, childish and engaged in goofy superhero antics. And in the films since the 1980’s, Godzilla has fallen somewhere in the middle- leaning more towards the malevolent, predatory side of the 1950’s.

What a lot of fans don’t remember is that many Godzilla fans that grew up with the films of the 50’s and 60’s- especially in the West- were not impressed with Toho’s direction to create a more kid-friendly Godzilla. At the time, that new image of Godzilla had garnered similar negative attention from the already-existing “hardcore” fans. And even if the Japanese Godzilla retained certain physical characteristics, his behavior was completely different.  So these seemingly complete different renditions are definitely nothing new.

It was also made very clear in the beginning that the creative team behind Godzilla were not out to recreate the Godzilla that had been made and step onto a separate creature. This is very different from Toho’s direction to take the same Godzilla that had bitten the throat out of the spiky Anguirus in Godzilla Raids Again (1955) and incinerated Mothra’s wings in the original Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) and had gradually transformed him into a precursor to Earl Sinclair (Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs). They did alter the same Godzilla to be something completely different. So Emerich’s film at least has that in its defense. They didn’t try to change the Godzilla we knew- just give us a different one. And there have been several Godzillas: each pertaining to different characteristics given the creative direction. There have been about eight separate generations of Godzilla in Japan- most of them having no continuity with the others aside from the original, especially in the Millennium Series (1999-2004).

As you can clearly see, there is a night and day difference between the two renditions of the same character. Bear in mind, this is the same Godzilla that rose after the defeat of the original from Gojira (1954).

Not only that, but the name was derived from the legend of “Gojira” that was referenced in the original film. In Gojira, Godzilla’s name was based off of a legend told by the natives of Otto Island. And while this was a different creature, the name of the beast was derived from the same legend. The legend was the basis of the name for the creature in both movies. So in both movies, “Gojira” was a legendary reptilian monster from the sea and the creatures featured in both movies were named after that legend.

Besides, there are plenty of other popular characters that have all been given radically different renditions. Stomp Tokyo Reviews lists several: Dracula, Tarzan, Frankenstein's Monster, Dr. Frankenstein, Zorro, Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Superman, King Kong, Mulan, Gamera, Hercules, Dr. Who, the Mars Attacks aliens, Ultraman, and The Incredible Hulk. (Click here to read their full review: http://www.stomptokyo.com/reviews/258/godzilla-1998/) As I read the list, I remember thinking of some of the renditions of these other characters. Does anyone remember the 70’s remake of King Kong? UGH! Horrible!

One thing I find rather interesting is that Toho Co. Ltd. were the ones that gave the licensing for the design, script and direction. They are the ones who approved it. So my question to all of the G-fans that are so bent out of shape about the movie almost fifteen years later is why has no one ever been angry at them? The TriStar Godzilla wouldn’t have existed without Toho’s approval. So why was nobody angry at them? It’s always been in Toho’s best interest to see Godzilla adapted to suit the times. And some incarnations were more successful than others.

Godzilla seemed, and still seems to be a product of the times. During Japan’s difficult post-war economic recovery, Godzilla was portrayed as something fearful and menacing. While during the 70’s, Japan started embracing a much lighter mentality- hence a lighter look on Godzilla as well. And since then, even if he still tramples a city in a bad mood, he still represents a symbol of Japan’s economic strength. This is similar to how medieval artwork portrayed Jesus. In times of prosperity, Jesus was often painted as the pudgy, happy baby while during times of famine and poor fortune, artists tended to paint a more emaciated Jesus on the cross in the crucifixion scene. Godzilla (1998) was no exception to that rule. This was a time for filmmakers to push the limits for a new technology called CGI while the fundamentals of filmmaking- a structured story, character development, etc.- got left behind.

I don’t think the problem was necessarily that this was a bad Godzilla movie as much as it just wasn’t all that great of a film. It had weak scripting, a plot that was held together with sometimes painfully long chase scenes- as if to chase itself around in circles to make a story out of itself- and god-awful casting. Matthew Broderick’s trademark wide-eyed stare just makes him seem like he never knows what’s going on. And sure, this one time there’s a twenty story reptile on the loose, that look might be appropriate. But he’s no actor. Not to mention there were the obvious nods to other American science fiction. But it still gave us an impressive creature. And you have to admit that the redesign wasn’t all that bad. Godzilla has certainly looked worse, in my opinion. I just think that the script could have been handled a little differently.

Even Dean Devlin admits that he wishes he could've written the script differently. A report from "Bloody Distugsting" has the details: “Listen, I think there’s a lot of wonderful stuff in that movie, I really do. [But] I think the problem with that movie was the script I wrote. I think Roland did an amazing job directing it, I think the actors are great, I think when people look back now on the Blu-ray and see the visual effects, it’s a lot better than what people said at the time. The problem was the script! I made some big errors in that script. I wish I hadn’t, I wish I had a chance to fix it. But in another way, it’s allowed me to be a better writer since, because I made the mistakes on one, and I realized I’m never gonna make those mistakes again!” (For the full interview, click here: http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/25091/dean-devlin-talks-about-the-failure-of-his-godzilla-1998-script/)

Also, as mentioned earlier the film featured countless rip-offs of films like Jurassic Park (1993), Aliens (1986) and the classic Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). What a lot of fans forget is that a lot of the Godzilla films- especially the Heisei films- almost seemed to downright plagiarize from American memorabilia as well as other Japanese memorabilia. The M-11 cyborg in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) was an obvious knock-off of T1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Not only were the scenes of the cyborgs walking out of the fire identical, but M-11 also seemed to look exactly like T100.

T1000 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and M-11 from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

 In Godzilla and Mothra: Battle For Earth (1992), the opening scenes clearly echoed Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) featured transformation sequences that seemed to echo every transforming robot series in existence: Transformers, Power-Rangers and Go-Bots. In Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994), how was Little Godzilla not a nod to Hello Kitty and Hamtaro? In fact, he almost looked like the two got mixed into a gene splicer with Baby Sinclair from Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs.

And of course, my favorite of all, the juvenile Destoroyahs in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). Not only were they modeled after the xenomorphs from the famed Alien series, but the scene where the S.WA.T. team was tracking them with guns and flamethrowers was practically stolen from Aliens (1986). From the radar guns to the creatures breaking through the ceiling tiles above, the scenes were practically identical.

Watch this review from Cinemassacre and tell me the fight between the juvenile Destoroyahs and the SWAT team doesn't remind you of Aliens (1986).

This isn’t my way of trying to rally anger or negativity towards Toho’s series, but it seems rather odd to me that fans are willing to criticize the American film for its unoriginality while they casually turn a blind eye to the endless uninspired moments from the Heisei Godzilla series which, oddly enough, is the most popular series. And yes, the Heisei series delivered a lot of very wonderful moments and sequences. I just feel that it’s something a lot of fans don’t think about enough.

            I will always understand why longtime fans will continue to resent this movie. I was on the other side of that for a while. But once I weighed all these options carefully, I realized that the experimentation with Godzilla’s image is really nothing new. And of course this isn’t the same creature as Toho’s Godzilla. The Japanese Godzilla still exists and the movies are still there for us to watch. And Toho has made more since. But if you think about it, none of the Godzillas since the original are the same. Chronologically speaking, the original Godzilla is dead. He was killed by Dr. Serizowa’s “Oxygen-Destroyer” in the original film. So if you think about it, none of the other incarnations of the Japanese Godzilla are really the “original” Godzilla. This is why I personally find the term "The One and Only True Godzilla" to be rather inaccurate. I understand how it's meant to be used and why fans use it, but if someone wants to get really technical, it isn't entirely true.

The original Godzilla (Top Left), the Showa series Godzilla (Top Right), the Heisei Godzilla (Bottom Left) and one of the five millennium Godzillas (Bottom Right): Each one is a separate creature and pertains to different creative directions.

            Besides, the animated spin-off aired on Fox Kids, Godzilla: The Series showed us something pretty awesome and has sure helped fans like myself to hold the door open for TriStar’s Godzilla.

            So in conclusion, I have found reason to leave room for the TriStar Godzilla in my fanboy world. Sure, it isn’t the same as the original, but Godzilla’s image has been changed repeatedly anyway. And the actual original Godzilla is dead, so none of the other incarnations have really been the original Godzilla. And again, I’ll always understand why this incarnation is frowned upon by some. But as far as I’m concerned, they’re different versions that work on different levels for different people. I've talked to people that do not like the dark Godzilla from the original as well as people that can't stand the goofy Godzilla that did a tail-slide into Megalon in the 1970's. And Godzilla’s character to this day is still very experimental. Toho has tried a lot of things and what’s done is done. So why not lighten up a little? Besides, we can all tell the difference anyway.