Godzilla - Size Does Matter [VHS]

This review is for the 4K Ultra HD edition of Godzilla (1998) released in May, 2019 by Tri-Star.TIMELINE: This is the first live action 'Godzilla' movie made by an American company. It is the 23rd of 31 live action 'Godzilla' movies overall. As of the time of this review in May 2019 ('Godzilla: King of the Monsters' is due out very shortly as of the time of this review). This movie was intended to be the first of a series but no sequel was ever made. It exists in it's own unique universe. However...GODZILLA OR ZILLA OR EVEN GINO?: Toho purchased the rights to Tri-Star's Godzilla and re-named it Zilla. Zilla appears in 'Godzilla: Final Wars' and a reference is made to him/it in 'GMK: All Out Monster Attack'. This version of Godzilla has also been called 'GINO' by Godzilla fans. That is short for 'Godzilla In Name Only'.THE 4K PICTURE: To get right down to it, I wasn't that impressed. The picture didn't really look any better than my Blu-Ray edition and I'm not sure if it's worth the upgrade. There was definitely some graininess in the picture in quite a few scenes. Bottom line is that I don't think this is a great transfer.THE EXTRA'S:-Visual Effects Commentary-Behind the Scenes of Godzilla with Charles Caiman-All Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes-'Heroes' Music Video by The Wallflowers*****WARNING - LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SYNOPIS: During the credits we see an iguana nest irradiated by nuclear radiation. This will ultimately lead to Godzilla's birth. Godzilla destroys a fishing ship and there is one survivor who identifies him as 'Gojira'.Nick Tatopoulos is a scientist who studies abnormal growth in irradiated zones. He is at Chernobyl studying enlarged worms when the military collects him and brings him to the site of Godzilla's foot prints. Nick deduces that Godzilla is probably an irradiated creature.Godzilla heads to New York City and the military, along with Nick, follow. While in NYC, Nick's ex-girlfriend Audrey, who is a fledgling reporter, meets up with him. She takes advantage of him by stealing a video tape from Nick that belongs to the military. Her boss ends up taking credit and announces to the public that Godzilla is in the city. As a result, Nick is booted from the operation. Fortunately for him, A French secret service agent named Philippe recruits him to work with his team. Phillippe tells Nick that they feel responsible for Godzilla since they believe they tested the bomb that led to his birth. Nick deduces that Godzilla is in NYC to nest and they go searching for it. Audrey, along with her cameraman run into Nick at Madison Square Garden. It is here that they find Godzilla's eggs. They are just in time for the eggs to start hatching. They are now confronted by dozens of baby Godzilla's. They need to escape and alert the military to the impending danger. Unfortunately for them, Godzilla is waiting....PRODUCTION: This movie was made in 1998 and released by TriStar Pictures.-The director was disaster movie mogul, Roland Emmerich. He continued his landmark destroying ways by destroying The Flat Iron Building, The Chrysler Building, Met-Life Building, Madison Square Garden and even the statue of George Washington on Wall Street.-Toho decided to end the 'Hesei' series of Godzilla films and hand the franchise over to the Americans. Of course, they 'dropped the ball' pretty badly with this film. The following year, Toho rebooted Godzilla with a new series of films which is now known as 'The Millenium Series' of films.-Even though the movie was not considered successful, it did make money with a domestic gross of 136 million dollars and 379 million dollars overall.-The reporters name was Charles Caiman. For those who don't know, a caiman is the smallest type of reptile in the Crocodile family.COMMENTS: IS THIS THE ONLY MOVIE MADE FOR THIS 'GODZILLA' UNIVERSE?: An argument can be made that the answer is "no". Zilla (Godzilla) makes an appearance in 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. Since Toho purchased the rights to Tri-Star's Godzilla, you can definitely make the case that 'Godzilla: Final Wars' is a sequel to 'Godzilla (1998)'. Remember, even though Zilla dies, a baby Zilla hatches in the final scene of the movie. Since Zilla, is no longer considered to be Godzilla, then they can certainly co-exist! WHAT I DISLIKE: GODZILLA'S RADIOACTIVE BREATH:I never really got this. Is Godzilla breathing gas? The production team effectively did away with Godzilla's radioactive breath but decided to pay homage to it. When I first watched this, I didn't even realize what was going on. I just thoughtthere was an explosion and had no idea that Godzilla's breath was causing the fire. I don't recall this being explained in the movie. Perhaps it was, but I missed it. They could have at least given him some glowing scales. It's not as if there isn't bioluminescence in sea creatures throughout the world. Overall, they botched this badly. Godzilla's glowing scales and radioactive breath are what makes him Godzilla.-The fish: Did we really need this? I seem to recall that iguana's and large lizards in general like lettuce and cabbage and other vegetables. I could be wrong on this but whatever.-The love story: Do we ever need a love story in a Godzilla movie? My entire life, I have cringed during kissing scenes. When are Americans going to learn. Monster fans don't want 'love' in their stories. I realize I'm really speaking for myself, but I have never heard anybody say, "we need more relationship scenes" in a monster movie.-I did not like Godzilla being an asexual creature. This just doesn't work for me.-Evacuating New York City would not have been that simple. At the very least, the military could have come in and gone through the city till they found Godzilla. Since everybody was gone, what was the hurry?-I get it, liberties have to be taken to move movies along. Even so, I thought the eggs hatching almost immediately after Godzilla lays the eggs is a lot of 'Suspension of Disbelief'. WHAT I STRONGLY DISLIKE: GODZILLA VS. THE TAXI CAB:If the goal was to challenge Toho for campiness and idiotic plot points, Tri-Star was a smashing success! The movie's climax features Godzilla chasing around a group of humans riding in a taxi cab. He blames them for killing his (it's?) babies.-I absolutely hated having the French involved. I mean, really, what do we need them for? When was the last time we needed assistance from the French. The War of 1812 perhaps?-I did not like Godzilla being taken down by a few missiles. This is in fact more realistic, but it is not in the spirit of Godzilla films in which the military's efforts are always futile. Godzilla is in effect, a fantasy creature and not a science fiction creature.-I thought that the idea of destroying Madison Square Garden was just ridiculous. It was just plain dumb on so many levels. First off, they could have given the humans more time to get out. They could have easily just gone in there with some soldiers and cleared the place out. Was it really necessary to do a Billion Dollars in damage? IS THAT REALLY GODZILLA? WHAT DO I THINK OF THE DESIGN?: There is a part of me that likes the fact that they tried to give Godzilla a realistic look by basing the design on an iguana. I like the design better today than I did years ago. I guess the real reason I never liked the design was because of how inept this Godzilla was. WAY OFF-COLOR (WARNING - If you are a female and/or easily offended, do not read this paragraph and skip to the next one): I just can't resist making this comment. I know my mind is sometimes in the gutter but did anyone else out there think themselves... How funny would it have been if when the baby Godzilla hatched, instead of sniffing at Matthew Broderick because it was looking for fish, it sniffed the female reporters crotch? WAS THERE ANYTHING I ACTUALLY LIKED?:Indeed there is.-I did like a lot of the special effects. I thought Godzilla looked good stomping around New York City. I really enjoyed watching him move against the backdrop of the buildings.-I liked the origin of Godzilla. I think using an irradiated iguana was a good idea.CONCLUSIONS: After watching this movie for the first time in several years and for the third time in my life, my opinion actually went up. The movie isn't as bad as I remember. I guess I just hated it because of all of the ridiculous scenes. Of course, illogical scenes have always been par for the course in Godzilla movies.I don't really know if the upgrade is worth it. If you are a die hard Godzilla fan, you are going to buy it anyway, just like me. Because you have to have everything!RATINGS:The Picture: 5/10 - I am disappointed in the picture as I point out above under 'THE PICTURE'.The Plot: 3/10 - Very generic, been there, done that. The climax scene is unforgivable in my eyes.The SFX: 9/10 - I'm rating this based on it's day. I remember being in the theater and being 'wowed' by the size of Godzilla while I watched this on a large screen. Obviously the CGI was more primitive but it even over 20 years later it still looks decent.The Godzilla Suit: 5/10 - There is one in most Godzilla movie's but not this one. Since there is no suit, I have to rate this on the design and CGI. The CGI is good but the design isn't.Overall: 6/10 or 3 starsWHAT'S NEXT FOR GODZILLA?: There was a sequel planned for this movie. The ending certainly left room for a direct sequel. However, the fan reaction was overwhelmingly negative despite the movie being a financial success. Tri-Star would not renew the license and Toho took back the Godzilla franchise. Toho released the first of the 'Millenium' series of films, 'Godzilla 2000', the following year, 1999. This movie received a limited theatrical run in the United States but was not commercially successful. It confused audiences who were not familiar with the Godzilla franchise.

Growing up in the 70's, I can easily remember the Saturday afternoon "Godzilla" (and all his friends!) movies that we loved to watch. Despite an obvious guy wearing a rubber "Monster" suit, ultra-cheezy special effects and of course, the TERRIBLE lip syncing between the Japanese language actors and the English speaking dubs...they were a blast!Well, this movie will NOT disappoint as the special effects are FABULOUS and you really find yourself rooting for the big ole' lizard. He's the victim of a genetic mutation. An innocent whose DNA was irradiated while still in his shell, caused by the numerous nuclear tests conducted in the 1950's by the French in the South Pacific.The movie begins in fact, with sixty year old black and white footage of these tests. They're eerie to watch, especially as the nuclear fallout-the radioactive "rain"-begins to drift down on the reptilian residents of the numerous "deserted" atol's in the test region.Fast forward to modern day and a mega-large Japanese fishing trawler/processing plant somewhere underway in a stormy sea. This ship is several stories high and is quite sophisticated. When the bridge officer hears his radar start emitting an alarm, he rushes to the screen only to see a huge green blob bearing down on them quickly. He sounds the alarm just as the big guy makes his appearance, swamping the boat and leaving no survivors except a fragile old cook.When a mysterious Frenchman shows up at the small hospital where the elderly cooks lies in a catatonic state-he manages to arouse the terrified cook and gather the information he wants: it was a "gorga" that did this!What follows is the stuff of which juicy legends are made. Mathew Broderick PhD., is hustled away from his three year radioactive "worm" research project at the Cherynoble (spelling?) nuclear disaster site and whisked off to places unknown by some no nonsense state department and military types. He finds himself arriving at a top secret military operative site in Panama-complete with an aggressive female paelentologist who has the hots for him. He stands in a giant footprint, puzzled by everything, until it slowly dawns on him that he is STANDING in a giant footprint! And there's a lot more footprints where that came from.Mmmmm.We soon get the "scoop," Broderick is the worlds top expert on the effects of post massive radiation poisoning on the cells of regenerating species, while the paelentologist (who really has a pretty minor role) is the expert on dinosaurs.More great gory Godzilla action follows, as the big boy heads towards the Eastern seaboard and pulls not one, not two, but three fishing boats underwater all at the same time. (Their lights glowing from beneath the sea is A GREAT visual!)Our scaly friend then moves on to Manhattan, making mincemeat of the city until he vanishes somewhere into its bowels underground.There's a stupid "plot within a plot" where Broderick's one and only true love-the girl he proposed to in College who dumped him to pursue a career as a newscaster in New York comes into the picture. She's never made it beyond "assistant," and although she plays a "major role" in the storyline-her character could have been played by Shirley Temple with just as much impact.And of course, there's the typical army general bellowing orders, the typical Mayor of New York who's a blithering fool worrying about his reelection campaign and of course, the mysterious Frenchman.I give extremely high marks for the special effects-they're as realistic as anything done today, especially the scene when Godzilla's precious nest of eggs is discovered beneath Madison Square Garden. And when they begin to hatch, I can assure you that these "baby godzilla's" are NOT the "kootchie-kootchie koo" types! (FYI-Despite laying eggs, Godzilla is a male because as Broderick explains to the brass, many types of reptiles can reproduce asexually)There's lots of soldiers and jet fighters getting chomped and crushed-tons of hysterical people fleeing for their lives, (often unsuccessfully) and a submarine or two getting taken out by the big ole' boy before he's finally brought down by a couple of massive torpedo strikes in the East River. You then see our lax lizard spiraling down through the depths as cheers and high fives erupt among the military brass and government officials.Meanwhile.....under the city the eggs continue to ripen, setting up a scenario in which Broderick-(who was "fired" because of something his stupid ex-girlfriend did) is convinced to help search out and destroy them before they hatch. He teams up with a "mysterious" team, and off they go to make an omelet of those suckers.What happens next is another 40 minute roller coaster ride of good old terror and mayhem-and no, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you, period.My MAJOR, MAJOR complaint about this film regards the poor casting choices and sub par acting by many of the characters. The "girlfriend" is absolutely terrible and I don't think I've seen her appear in anything since. Hank Azara (spelling?) is pretty lame as a cameraman named "animal," while the actress playing his wife was gawd awful. The actor playing the "military chief" never reaches a level even approaching an intern doing summer stock, while the mayor is played as a stereotypical buffoon-ditto the "star" anchorman. Only the "mysterious Frenchman" gives any zing to his performance. Even Broderick seems to be sleep walking through his role the majority of the time, which is why I think this film never really went anywhere at the Box Office.With a zillion dollar budget, GREAT special effects, a Godzilla you can really empathize with and a pretty good storyline-this film was stopped in its tracks by sub-par casting choices, plain and simple. Maybe the Directer thought that his great special effects would make up for the deficient casting choices.Nevertheless, if you can manage to ignore the lack of character development in this movie-you'll find yourself enjoying a bang up thriller with a truly "bigger than life" star. See it. It's fun!

I love dinosaurs and this one is the best.

Great entertaining DVD!

Good movie, lot’s of action and adventure….

Remember taking my youngest and the Mrs to see this when it was doing the rounds -The film tells of how after a French nuclear test in the South Pacific an Iguana nest is exposed to the fallout.Sometime later a Japanese fishing vessel is attacked by a mysterious and very large creature, the one survivor of the vessel will later call the creature Godzilla.When the attack is reported and giant prints are found Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos (Mathew Brodrick), an NRC scientist, is approached whilst investigating worms at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is asked by U.S officials to investigate the incident.Nick dismisses talk of a survivor from the Jurassic era but says samples he finds was of an unknown origin.Soon after, the creature surfaces in New York and though showing little interest in humans causes death, destruction and chaos on a large scale, but what is it looking for?With the military, police and officials in disarray, only the logic of Nick joined by his ex-girlfriend would-be reporter Audrey (Maria Pitillo) her colleague Victor (Hank Azaria) and French secret-service agent Philippe Roaché (Jean Reno) set about saving the city from the giant creature.However, they'll find a nest with hundreds of ready to hatch eggs, stopping disaster begins to look more unlikely.Who'll prevail?I did enjoy watching the film again in truth though I have to say some of the acting left much to be desired especially in my opinion that of the lead character.The special effects were with the ongoing destruction of New York were pretty good for the time (1998)However, the continuity of the 4k upgrade wasn't in my view consistent, sometimes impressive, often not. ....4k upgrade rating 7/10

I loved the better colours and contrast from the HDR 4K transfer.. Some may argue this isn't "really Godzilla".. The purist may have a point there. As an adventure monster movie it's a decent movie.. The ATMOS soundtrack is very good however I would've preferred more prominent use of height effects .. Especially from the helicopter scenes.. That's just a minor niggle.. The subwoofer and surround speakers will get a good workout. So crank up your speakers and hang on tight.. Another movie to show off ATMOS..

Arrived in excellent condition. Though the movie isn't all that good, I bought this for the nostalgia factor. I remember watching this film in awe back when I was a child, for a child hardly knows the difference between a good and a bad film.

Fun film that is woefully underrated. Jean Reno is excellent as ever. Has everything you want, destruction, large monster and pathos for the creature. The creature CGI still holds up, but the rest is a bit iffy from today's standpoint (especially the helicopter chase).Still two thumbs up!

Not receinving a previous attempy did me a favut. THIS dvd maybe a subsequent release..different picture...BUT its wide.. ran the start, VERY good, pleased. Previous dvd orders have been full screen...but...until its opened...still waiting to hear. If a write up says no info on aspect...