Godzilla (1998)

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers (WGA):

Ted Elliott (story) &
Terry Rossio (story) ...

Release Date:

20 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Size Does Matter

Plot:

A montage of French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, observed by many marine iguanas. Then, in present days...

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Lizard | Monster | Military | Scientist

Awards:

8 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Matthew Broderick	...	Dr. Niko Tatopoulos
Jean Reno	...	Philippe Roaché
Maria Pitillo	...	Audrey Timmonds
Hank Azaria	...	Victor 'Animal' Palotti
Kevin Dunn	...	Colonel Hicks
Michael Lerner	...	Mayor Ebert
Harry Shearer	...	Charles Caiman, WIDF Anchor
Arabella Field	...	Lucy Palotti
Vicki Lewis	...	Dr. Elsie Chapman
Doug Savant	...	Sergeant O'Neal
Malcolm Danare	...	Dr. Mendel Craven
Lorry Goldman	...	Gene, Mayor's Aide
Christian Aubert	...	Jean-Luc
Philippe Bergeron	...	Jean-Claude
Frank Bruynbroek	...	Jean-Pierre

Also Known As:

Gojira (Japan)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi monster action/violence.

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | French | Japanese | Russian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35077) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Philippines:G | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Falls Lake, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Centropolis Film Productions

Trivia:

Tôhô Co. Ltd., the Japanese film studio that owns the rights to Godzilla (Gojira) agreed to allow an American version to be made, but only if the US studio followed a set of guidelines in order for the film to properly "capture the spirit of Godzilla." Practically every single request from Tôhô was ignored by the American producers, which caused the computer-generated monster in the film to be canonized officially as Jira, who is defeated by Godzilla (Gojira) himself in Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (2004).

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the Apache helicopter-Godzilla chase sequence, the Apache's have three weapons hard points on each weapon wing; all Apache's have only two hard points per weapon wing.

Quotes:

Sergeant O'Neal: I can't believe it, uh... he did all of this and... we did nothing to him.
Dr. Niko Tatopoulus: Ah, that's not true. We fed him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shrek 2 (2004)

Soundtrack:

Lose Control

I thought this was fun. I don't know why people whine about it so much.

Well, being a longtime fan of the GODZILLA/GOJIRA films as a youngster, I remember seeing this with great anticipation. I, unlike a lot of people, was not at all disappointed. This film was exactly what I was hoping it would be at the time. Sure, it certainly wasn't as charming or as funny as the films I loved as a kid, but it was a lot of fun. I loved the action scenes, the look of the monster was crazy to me, and the plot was simple enough for a first time viewer to get right into. Seeing it again 10 years later, I had the same reaction. My opinion of this film hasn't changed one bit. I guess everybody's complaints stem from how this has no charm or any kind of attempt at being cute or original. I guess that's understandable, but I still don't see what everybody's problem is. This was supposed to be a fun, exciting, and action packed thrill ride. That's all it is, no more, no less. I personally think that it succeeds at what it achieved to be perfectly. Matthew Broderick may not exactly be an action hero, but his character sure was quirky and funny. Jean Reno was as good as usual.