Godzilla (1998)

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Movie
German title Godzilla
Original title Godzilla
Godzilla-logo.svg
Country of production USA , Japan
original language English
Publishing year 1998
length 139 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Roland Emmerich
script Roland Emmerich,
Dean Devlin ,
Terry Rossio (story),
Ted Elliott (story)
production Dean Devlin
music David Arnold ,
Michael Lloyd
camera Ueli Steiger
cut Peter Amundson ,
David Siegel
occupation
synchronization

Godzilla is a science fiction - horror - thriller from the year 1998 by director Roland Emmerich , who along with Dean Devlin also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the Japanese movie monster Godzilla . The film opened in German cinemas on September 10, 1998.

action

French atomic bomb tests caused lizard eggs to mutate on islands in the Pacific Ocean . A Japanese fishing vessel is later attacked and sunk in the area. The only surviving crew member is interrogated by the French secret service, but the traumatized sailor utters only one word: Godzilla . Dr. Nick Tatopoulos, who investigates earthworms mutated by radioactivity in the Chernobyl exclusion zone , is brought to Panama by the US military, where huge footprints have been found. Shortly afterwards, two Godzilla fishing trawlers are sunk off the east coast of the USA. A little later, the monster appears on the New York fish market . After some destruction, it disappears and New York is evacuated.

The military is now on the scene, but can only determine that Godzilla is now hiding underground. Inspired by the attacks on Fischer, Tatopoulos recommends luring the monster with a fishing bait to kill him. But the first attempt fails: Since the military underestimates Godzilla's size and strength, the monster escapes, causing high losses among the soldiers. Tatopoulos found out from a blood sample that the lizard was pregnant and warns the military. But because his former girlfriend Audrey, whom he meets again after a long time in New York, steals a video cassette that shows secret military recordings about Godzilla and his tracks and thus goes to the press, Nick is released from the project.

On the way to the airport, he is kidnapped by Philippe Roche, who works for the French secret service and poses as a taxi driver. He asks Nick Tatopoulos to help find the nest. While the American military is only on the hunt for Godzilla and can finally apparently kill him, the French and Tatopoulos, secretly pursued by Audrey and a cameraman, search for the nest. You follow Godzilla's destruction in the city and eventually find the eggs in Madison Square Garden . The explosives brought with them are not enough to blow up all the eggs and the young begin to hatch. The chance to blow up is not used and you try to lock the building and leave. With the help of the transmission system in the stadium, the military is informed via television. At the last second, the protagonists can leave the building and all the young animals are killed by the explosion of the rockets. Godzilla survived the military attack and finds his dead boys. He recognizes those responsible in people. The lizard pursues them across Manhattan and is lured onto the Brooklyn Bridge . There he gets caught in the wire ropes and is killed by fighter jets. Tatopoulus and Audrey finally get together and since Tatopoulus promises her the story exclusive, her dream of journalism will finally come true. Roche, however, disappears unseen.

In the end, it turns out that at least one of the young survived.

reception

Reviews

The film received almost only negative reviews. Critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website rated the film only 16 percent positive. The audience gave a similarly poor result, 28 percent of them rated the film positively.

“Remake of the Godzilla material , which quotes its predecessors in terms of content and dramaturgical, but never finds its own signature. The plot remains rudimentary and just as clinging to conventional patterns as the computer-generated scenes do not transcend the framework of known genre clichés and, despite the immense effort, do not provide any real show values. A dark, tiring monster film with endless destruction and fighting scenes as well as pitiful humorous interludes. "

- Lexicon of international film

Gross profit

The film ran internationally successfully in cinemas. He grossed over $ 379 million worldwide. This was offset by production costs of around 130 million US dollars.

Awards (selection)

The film won the Saturn Award in 1999 in the Best Special Effects category. Maria Pitillo was awarded the Golden Raspberry for the worst actress . The film won the Anti Award in the Worst Remake / Sequel category .

Soundtrack

Godzilla: The Album was released on May 19, 1998 on Epic Records . Only three songs are from the film itself ( Undercover , Opening Titles and Looking For Clues ). In 2008 a new edition of the album was released.

Track list
# title Artist producer
1 Heroes The Wallflowers Andrew Slater
2 Come with me Puff Daddy feat. Jimmy Page Puff daddy
3 Deeper underground Jamiroquai Jay Kay
4th No shelter Rage Against the Machine Brendan O'Brien
5 Air Ben Folds Five Brendan O'Brien
6th Running knees Days of the New Scott Litt
7th Macy Day Parade Michael Penn Brendan O'Brien
8th Walk the sky Fuel Brendan O'Brien
9 A320 Foo fighters Foo fighters
10 Brain Stew (The Godzilla Remix) * Green Day Rob Cavallo & Green Day
11 Untitled Silver chair Nick Launay
12 Out there Fuzzbubble Puff Daddy (executive producer), Mike Clink & Fuzzbubble
13 Undercover Joey DeLuxe David Arnold
14th Opening titles David Arnold David Arnold
15th Looking for clues David Arnold David Arnold

* This is the original version of the same song from the album Insomniac , in which only the characteristic roar of Godzilla was cut into it.

synchronization

role actor Voice actor
Nick Tatopoulos Matthew Broderick Uwe Büschken
Philippe Roche Jean Reno Jeff Bay
Victor Palotti Hank Azaria Matthias Klie
Audrey Timmonds Maria Pitillo Alexandra Ludwig
Colonel Hicks Kevin Dunn Ivar Combrinck
Mayor Ebert Michael Lerner Hartmut Neugebauer
Charles Caiman Harry Shearer Thomas Rauscher
Dr. Elsie Chapman Vicki Lewis Marietta Meade
Dr. Mendel Craven Malcolm Danare Kai Taschner
Lucy Palotti Arabella Field Michele Sterr
Sergeant O'Neal Doug Savant Philipp Moog
Gene, Ebert's advisor Lorry Goldman Arnim André

Trivia

  • The film is the first Godzilla film to be produced outside of Japan.
  • In the film, the Apache attack helicopters incorrectly fire from on-board cannons on the side of the cockpit and not from a single one at the bottom.
  • The figures of Mayor Ebert and his advisor Gene are said to have been based on the film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel . The two film critics had given Emmerich's previous films Stargate and Independence Day negative ratings. Godzilla also judged the critic duo negatively. In their television show Siskel and Ebert , they made fun of the fact that the film characters who resemble them were not eaten or trampled by the giant monster.
  • Hank Azaria , Harry Shearer, and Nancy Cartwright , Caiman's secretary, have also worked together as voice actors for the Simpsons for years . The nephew of Danny Elfman , composer of the Simpsons theme music , also had a minor role.
  • Matthew Broderick's character Dr. Nick Tatopoulos has the same last name as Godzilla designer and special effects supervisor in the film Patrick Tatopoulos - a tribute to him by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin.
  • An animated series was created that tells what happened after the movie. Unlike in the film, Godzilla is more of a friend of humans and fights other monsters.
  • The film is rejected by the majority of Godzilla fans and is not recognized as a Godzilla film. The monster itself is mockingly called GINO, which means “ G odzilla i n N ame o nly” (in German: Godzilla just by name).
  • In the Japanese production Godzilla: Final Wars , the monster appears as Zilla , who destroys Sydney. The producers used the same graphics as in this film. In the film, the Japanese Godzilla also kills its American counterpart.
  • The animal and environmental protection organization Sea Shepherd has a trimaran in its fleet, which the organization first named Gojira and which had an outline of the monster in Roland Emmerich's film painted on the ship's wall. After disputes with Tōhō , who own the naming rights to Godzilla, the boat was renamed Brigitte Bardot .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Godzilla (1998). Accessed August 8, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Godzilla. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 30, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ^ Godzilla (1998) - Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 24, 2019 .