When people think of Godzilla, they think of a scary monster of epic proportions, when I think of 1998’s Godzilla, my memory triggers similar thoughts. Godzilla is a terribly made (to the point of it being scary) film of epic proportions (AKA a running time of 139 minutes which is scary as well).
Film
I’ve enjoyed some of Roland Emmerich’s movies before; he helmed the Jean Claude Van Damme/ Dolph Lundgren classic Universal Soldier as well as the equally enjoyable Stargate. After the success of Independence Day, Emmerich choose to follow up his biggest hit with an update to Gojira, the classic TOHO monster movie that spawned a billion sequels. I was quite excited for this movie initially, having been a huge fan of Godzilla my entire life, and so I`m sad to inform you that this movie is a tremendously disappointing. This is just not Godzilla.
While Godzilla fans may not enjoy this film, how does it hold up viewed as just another “monster” movie? Honestly, not much better? So nuclear tests in France have resulted in the creation of a giant mutated lizard that decides to swim to Manhattan Island and wreck some havoc. Matthew Broderick headlines the cast as one of the scientists thrown together in an effort to try and stop this monster. It’s the type of role Jeff Goldblum could have played in his sleep and even James Spader did better in Stargate. Broderick on the other hand, struggles. It’s not entirely his fault though, that’s the problem with this movie. The screenplay is filled with annoying and unfunny character. The situations and dialogue are unrealistic. As a giant reptile is pulling apart the city that never sleeps, Broderick still manages to hook up with his ex-girlfriend and patch things up. Hooray!
There are a few action scenes that work in this movie, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. This movie rips off everything from Jurassic Park to Star Wars. I did enjoy the film’s climax when Broderick, with the help of the French secret service (don’t ask), led by the usually reliable Jena Reno looking very bored here, find Godzilla’s nest in Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get there. At 139 minutes, this movie is just too damn long. There are a lot better movies of this type out there and even on a rainy afternoon when this might have worked as an afternoon time waster, this movies “epic” length may force you to split your viewings over multiple days.
Video
Godzillas’s 1080p MPEG-4 AVC transfer, in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, looks very sharp. However when 80% of the film takes place in a dark & rainy setting, having a great transfer doesn’t necessarily make makes the bad lighting and film grain look good.
Another problem with getting a clear image of something bad is the CGI. A blocky pixel formed Godzilla actually looks better on DVD because the image doesn’t allow you to fully see how lacking CGI was back then.
However besides the lame effects and the poor choice of atmosphere, the video quality is well preserved.
Audio
Godzilla’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track almost makes up for the fact that this movie is so long… Low frequencies comes out as deep rumbles that fill the room, surround mixing adds depth in all the right places and the dialogue (while it’s poorly written and terribly delivered) comes out nice and clear in the center.
For those interested, there is also a Spanish and French mix in 5.1 DTS-HD MA and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.
Special Features
From the original release in glorious standard definition… ugh
- Commentary by Visual Effects Supervisor Volker Engel and Associate Visual Effects Supervisor Karen Goulekas A lot of silence, lame jokes, not very insightful… Seems directed towards those interested in visual effects and doesn’t even really go into the production process.
- Behind the Scenes with Charles Caiman The only feature on the disc worthy of being considered an actual legitimate feature (the commentary was very lame), takes us from the set to Tokyo discussing the actors and their character as well as going into depth on the American version of Godzilla, and is one of the more fun watches.
- All Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes For ten minutes you can subject yourself to risking an epileptic seizure with a poorly edited highlight reel of all of Godzilla’s fights with other monsters. For Godzilla fans, this may be cool, however it’s basically like a trailer for all the movies.
- The Wallflowers, “Heroes” Music Video A music video for a cover of one of David Bowie’s hits. It’s fairly unrelated to the film, making it one of the better special features on the disc.
New blu-ray exclusive features:
- ‘2012′ Preview This disc is full of filler and this feature is just that. Watch a few minutes of another hollow special effects extravaganza… No thanks.
- The Ultimate ‘Godzilla’ Trivia Game It’s hard to call this a game… It’s a Q&A based activity where you try and answer questions related to the film. I’m almost positive a game requires some elements of entertainment or fun.
- Movie IQ The infamous Movie IQ returns to another Blu-ray as filler. With tangent information popping up throughout the movie is rarely insightful and just distracting. Avoid it.
Final Thoughts
Godzilla isn’t a well made movie, with stale acting and worse writing, anyone looking for a film worth watching should look elsewhere. The special features are simply filler with only a few actually about the movie itself and most are still in Standard Definition. The video might be clear, but due to the poor cinematography choices and the terrible CGI, you almost wish you couldn’t see it as clearly… The only saving grace is the audio mix, which doesn’t make this worth even a rental.
Wow, good review Scott. It sounds like there’s no resurrecting this film, even on Blu-ray. I remember seeing this in the theater and being sorely disappointed. I guess not much has changed in 11 years. If it stunk then, it stinks now.