Godzilla

Rating:
Summary: Godzilla was okay in this movie!
Review: this was not what I expected. I mean my mom and I love the Japanese movies with Godzilla fighting different monsters. But in this one he just running around desroying everything in Manhattan,New York. The movie would have been better if Godzilla was fighting a monster. I added this movie one star because I like the effects on Godzilla and there are only three scenes on this movie I like. The one when Godzilla was just entering the city. Near the end when Godzilla's eggs were hatching and the babies were roaming the building chasing the four main characters.Godzilla got trapped on the Brooklyn bridge and he got shot four times(I think). This movie had only a couple of good scenes but overall it wasn't that good throughout the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Decent Kaiju - But Not "The" Godzilla
Review: If you enjoy the somewhat generic giant monster movies from the 1950s, you might find something here to like. There is very little character development. It's more like the people exist, but we have no reason to really care about what happens to them. Because of this, the action scenes don't have the tension they could. There are some decent humorous moments. All of the Emmerich/Devlin productions are like this - somewhat empty but looks nice on the big screen. (Yes, I'm knocking Independence Day too.)

I was truly annoyed the first time I saw this in the theater. Not because of the changes. Images of this version of Godzilla had been leaked and appeared in G-Fan magazine. The producers said the image was not the Godzilla from the movie. When the movie was finally released, only the coloring was different. Some fans felt they were lied to even though technically we weren't because of the coloring differences. That got to me some. I was a little more objective on my second viewing.

TriStar changes the Godzilla legend. The original Godzilla was a metaphor for the Americans' bombing of Japan - an unstoppable force. The producers of the original got the idea after seeing all of the victims of the blast. Here, Godzilla gets mutated from a different scource - not American nuclear testing which was also established in other Godzilla movies such as Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). However, the newer Japanese films at least acknowledge this one. In Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monster All Out Attack!! (2001), it does make reference to a monster appearing in New York, but the Japanese military doesn't think it was a Godzilla. TriStar's Godzilla is also defeated too easily - despite it's wonderful agility.

Although the Godzilla CGI is nice, I don't feel the shading always matches the surrounding set - making the overall effect less impressive. There are also times when the monster may not be lined up properly such as the smaller baby Godzillas chasing humans.

Among the extras, I have always loved the first teaser for this movie - the one that takes place in the museum. There are also original Japanese trailers for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) and Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). Surprisingly, these trailers are in Japanese with subtitles when TriStar doesn't offer them that way in any video format.

As a giant monster movie, TriStar's Godzilla is OK but not great. It's not easy for me to recommend this one expect to true, die-hard fans of giant monster movies. I truly wish TriStar had stuck with Jan de Bont's version before scrapping it for the Emmerich/Devlin version.

Rating:
Summary: Macy Day Parade
Review: OK, I haven't listened to this CD, but Michael Penn's Macy Day Parade is great. It's a song with wonderful evocative lyrics (with good guitars to back it). If you like some of the other songs here, I recommend you buy the CD just to get a listen to Michael Penn.

Rating:
Summary: Oh Godzilla?!?
Review: Well, if you a fan of the man in the rubber suit Godzilla, the true king of monsters, then this film will disaapoint you. I have been a fan of the KOM for 35 years now (started when I was six years old with the flu). The redesign of the traditional Godzilla leaves alot to be desired, and most of the film you wish that the monster would step upon matthew broderick. Yet this movie has a couple saving graces: 1). Jean Reno his role is too small, but he makes the most of it, and 2). the King swiimng sequence is amazing!! Yes, I did attend the special premiere of the film when it came out, and saw it several times with various groups of friends. I still was dissapointed by it, I guess I am old school. If you have not seen the old films of the king, then try this first, you may like it alot. the special effects are very good. I wish I could say the same for the plotline. yeah, a sequeal is still being disucssed as this time. Toho took the rights back after this film, and has issues a couple pretty good man-in-rubber-suit films since then.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT SOUNDTRACK GREAT MOVIE
Review: I THINK MATTHEW BRODERICK DID A GREAT PROFORMENCE

Rating:
Summary: G-Fans, keep an open mind when watching this
Review: I remember growing up and watching Godzilla on Saturday and Sunday afternoon's on the local UHF station (waaaaay back when). I remember the hype they put out for the American version, and the first 3 times I saw it at the theatre, I was only disappointed by the acting and the fact that Godzilla didnt face off against another monster.
It IS a good movie if you keep in the mindset that you have never seen a Godzilla flick before, or that this could be an alternate timeline/universe story. I could have done without the bad humor or the Jurassic Park-esque baby Godzilla side story, but I kinda like this Godzilla...sleek,fast and cunning. Check the scene where he is swimming past the submarines, as he stares them down as he goes by...Devlin tried to make him an extremely intelligent monster and it almost worked.
After the movie, Fox put out an animated series which did do the monster justice...fighting other Giant monsters...it went along the old Hanna Barbarra series line where they could call Godzilla when needed. The acting was a bit better in that series.
Fans really dissed this movie, and some of the claims are justified. But really give it a fair shake. I think you'll agree it IS a descent flick worth a second look. Just keep an open mind while watching it.

Rating:
Summary: Better Alone Than Together
Review: There are generally two types of movie soundtracks: 1) the genre type, where the producers attempt to put only acts from the same genre on the album and 2) the eclectic type, where artists from two or more genres get equal time on the album. "Godzilla: The Album" gets stuck in between.

Clearly they were going for a rock genre record with this soundtrack; but, they can't seem to figure out which rock genre specifically. Included on the album are straight rock acts like The Wallflowers and Ben Folds Five, alternative rock acts like Foo Fighters and Days Of The New, punk acts like Green Day, rap/rock fusion with Rage Against The Machine and the Puff Daddy/Jimmy Page duet, and even a funk act with Jamiroquai.

The majority of the songs are quite good; but, they don't go together in any kind of coherent sound. "Godzilla: The Album" is missing a unifying theme that detracts from the finished product. Alone any of these songs are better than they sound as a group on this album.

Rating:
Summary: What were they thinking?
Review: After being a Godzilla fan since the age of four,I was really looking forward to seeing the American version back in the summer of 1998 and all I can say is "What a big mistake this was?"That wasn't even the Godzilla we all know.Stick to the Godzilla movies of the past and of course Godzilla 2000,don't waste your money on this piece of junk.

Rating:
Summary: Hokey at Best
Review: It's not enough that the film was an insult to the 1954 original. They had to make it worse by attaching this pathetic soundtrack filled with 3rd rate groups bleeting their mediocre efforts. Save your money and obtain the score to the original Godzilla film, or seek out the hard to find SCORE ONLY from the newer 1998 film. I'm surprised that David Arnold would have allowed himself to be associated with this tripe.

Rating:
Summary: A G-fan's worst nightmare
Review: This movie is a disgrace to the Godzilla name. I was so stoked when I saw the first preview of it. but it turned out the preview was the best thing about the movie. Essentially, the filmmakers took all that was appealing about Godzilla in the first place (i.e. near-indestructibility, godlike-fearsomeness, radioactive breath) and chucked it out the window in favor of a more "modern" approach. Which may have looked great on paper, and even in film clips, but all the special effects in the world can't disguise the fact that the filmmakers TURNED GODZILLA INTO A GIANT CHICKEN!!!!!!! I mean, for crying out loud, he does nothing but run away for most of the time he's on camera. He is not threatening, he is not fearsome, and he certainly does not evoke the spirit of the Godzilla of old. I sure didn't give a damn about what happened to any of the characters in the film, as their reactions were more like riding a roller coaster that if a fearsome monster were about to devour them. The filmmakers had to attempt to inject a little more menace by introducing a ludicrous plot about the big-G being an egg-producing machine, I suppose to bring the horror to a more "personal" level, but all they ended up doing was ripping off Jurassic Park. And the ending was a travesty. C'mon, the Godzilla I know would have knocked those jet fighters right out of the sky and dared the millitary to send more! Sadly, this isn't the Godzilla I knew and loved, but a coporate lackey whom was altered in an attempt to please the majority of the movie-going public. This could have easily been the G-movie to end all G-movies. Sadly, Godzilla will have to work long and hard to erase those images of him running pell-mell through the city to escape the threat of helicopters a fraction of his size. A giant chicken indeed.