GODZILLA: Tristar Godzilla Film (1998)

For discussion of Toho produced and distributed films or shows released from 1980 up to 1998 (includes Gamera 3)
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JVM
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GODZILLA: Tristar Godzilla Film (1998)

Post by JVM »

GODZILLA

Image

Even twelve years after it's debut, the fandom still turmoils and debates the merits of the 1998 Godzilla film... what are your thoughts on it now?

Personally I like it in retrospect for being a different take, but I can understand completely why people hate the film and I won't argue that it's good - it really is a pretty awful movie.
Last edited by JVM on Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Hotrod93
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Hotrod93 »

The same as before,

It was a semi ok Monster movie, but a shitty Godzilla film.
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GotengoXGodzilla
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by GotengoXGodzilla »

Yeah, I still hate the film. Not as much as I did when the film was released, but I don't see any reason why I should like it. Even as a popcorn flick/monster film, its still pretty bad. And as a Godzilla film, its even worse.

Thanks, but I'll pass on the film.
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tokyostateofmind
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by tokyostateofmind »

Its entertaining, a bad movie, but entertaining in any sense. I enjoy watching it whenever its on TV or if I am really bored, but it was only the beta, the real thing is coming in 2 years and it will restore peace to the Godzilla of Hollywoodland.

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Hedorah
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Hedorah »

IT was a different take, I'll give them that, but it was terrible to use the Godzilla name and have the "Godzilla" killed by military, it was a disgrace. I'm hoping Legendary Pictures can somewhat redeem the US.
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vaporchu
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by vaporchu »

It is a fun film. It is trash for sure, but I will say that I have probably seen this film more times than several of the "good" Godzilla films.

I just wish it wasn't called Godzilla...

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Hedorah
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Hedorah »

alienhulk2099 wrote:It's one of my all time favorite movies, although it seriously needed a monster fighting scene and they shouldn't have killed American Godzilla.
......what? Please tell me you're joking! Elaborate why it is your favorite please
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Legionmaster »

Hedorah wrote:
alienhulk2099 wrote:It's one of my all time favorite movies, although it seriously needed a monster fighting scene and they shouldn't have killed American Godzilla.
......what? Please tell me you're joking! Elaborate why it is your favorite please
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Hedorah
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Hedorah »

Legionmaster wrote:
Hedorah wrote:
alienhulk2099 wrote:It's one of my all time favorite movies, although it seriously needed a monster fighting scene and they shouldn't have killed American Godzilla.
......what? Please tell me you're joking! Elaborate why it is your favorite please
He's not, and he can't. Cuz he's AH.
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Hedorah
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Hedorah »

I wasn't saying "YOU CAN'T LIKE THIS MOVIE I WON'T ALLOW IT!" I was just hoping for some more elaboartion, which you provided, thank you
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Red-Death Gigan
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Red-Death Gigan »

Change the movie's name to just "Zilla" and we're golden.
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Ethan
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Ethan »

alienhulk2099 wrote:I always enjoyed the military fighting scenes where they usually screw up and Godzilla ends up OWNing them
Running away from them in fear isn't quite the same as "OWNing" them.
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baragon123
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by baragon123 »

Meh..whatever it was a cool movie, just not Godzilla thats all.
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GlaveWorm
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by GlaveWorm »

It's just not Godzilla, but after you get around the monster's name and the fact it was supposed to be Godzilla it can be an enjoyable movie.

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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by HayesAJones »

It's a fun monster movie, but a horrible Godzilla movie.

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ZigraDude
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by ZigraDude »

It sucked back then and it sucks now. Yeah, I don't think this film has aged well, especially since a new American Godzilla movie is in production.

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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by OptimusPrimevs.g »

It was okay as a monster movie, but not as a Godzilla movie. Making Godzilla look like an iguana and letting him have babies were horrible. They didn't even have Godzilla breathing fire and that's his trademark!
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KaijuSapian
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by KaijuSapian »

Although I have always felt let down by this movie since I was seven, I was still able to watch it and get some enjoyment out of it. Basically I always figured, well it's not the Godzilla I know, but if they restored his powers, then it could have been better. Essentially, I was sort of lying to myself in order to like this movie, I just really really really really wanted to like it. But as I've gotten older, the more I have grown to dislike it. I mean it's been over 10 years since it was released, and I have gotten over the disappointment, but as I have matured, so have my tastes in movies. Is it the worst movie? No. But it's still not a good movie.

I still do get mad today whenever people assume I'm referring to THIS movie whenever I'm talking about Godzilla, or when people think THIS movie was called Godzilla 2000. There's really just no excuse, that's just sheer ignorance.
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Arrow
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Arrow »

I thought the movie was terrible when I saw it in theaters back in 1998, and I think it's terrible now. And that's not only for the changes they made to the monster, but just the movie itself. I can't believe that this was the movie that was meant to jumpstart the Godzilla franchise in America. As a child fan, I was disappointed and outraged.

My thoughts on what they did to Godzilla are pretty much the same as almost everyone else's. I hated that they stripped away his atomic ray and his near-invulnerability. I also hated that they wanted to attach the name 'GODZILLA' to a monster with that ugly-looking design. And I hate that they took the powerful creature that was Godzilla and reinvented him to be cowardly and frightened. But that's just my 'inner fanboy' speaking and has nothing to do with the quality of the movie itself. The problem with the movie is that, with all of its big budget and special effects, it still comes off as terribly acted, poorly paced, bland, and the characters bring absolutely nothing to the table.

IMO, the only redeeming factor to this movie is the special effects, and even those don't hold up that well today (I think that the SPFX in Jurassic Park, made five years before this, hold up better today). Everything else ranged from mediocre to terrible.

With the exception of the French agent (I forget the name), none of the actors really make their characters likable. And for a movie that's supposed to rely on human characters, that's a real problem. We're supposed to relate to these characters and they do nothing to make us root for them. I couldn't have cared less whether or not they lived or died, succeeded or failed. They were your usual stock characters with nothing to bring to the table.

Because of the characters, the plot - which is your usual standard monster fare - suffers. It becomes boring and drags. The actions scenes consist mostly of the monster running throughout the city while the military blows stuff up. And that's not to mention how the movie blatantly rips off other, much better movies. For example, there's the scene with the baby GINOs and the obvious parallels to Jurassic Park. There's referencing, being inspired, and then ripping off. And this movie falls into the latter.

My opinion on this movie remains that same as when it did twelve years ago. It's a terrible movie, and an even worse Godzilla movie.

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Legionmaster
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Re: The American Godzilla...

Post by Legionmaster »

If I didn't like Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, and Hank Azaria, it would have failed pretty hard. But if you don't take it seriously, they're fun to watch.
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