Word: godzillas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...they reinvented Godzilla. Instead of barrel legs that galumph through the Ginza, Godzilla now has runner's calves to sprint down Broadway. The lumpy, rubberized-corduroy look has given way to the towering if scaly athleticism pioneered by H.R. Giger's mantid man-eaters in the Alien series. And while the snub-nosed, micro-eared Godzilla of the '60s and '70s had a vaguely mammalian mien--appropriate for a creature whose Japanese name, Gojira, is an amalgam of kujira (whale) and gorira (gorilla)--the fin-de-siecle Godzilla has a crocodilian brow, iguana affectations, a T. Rex crouch...
Nearly 95% of the lizard's effects were created through computer graphics, and Tatopoulos' creature shop was twice the size of Jurassic Park's. But Godzilla isn't his old self: gone, for example, are his trademark maple-leaf dorsal spines, now a forest of thorns. All that really remains is the Godzillic roar, pitched higher than a foghorn but just as resonant, sort of like a herd of elephants on methamphetamines. And that's by default. A whole audio team was given the task of duplicating the sound but couldn't. And so Devlin and Emmerich simply picked...
...care lavished on re-creating the monster, the new plot is somewhat less revolutionary. As in 1954, Godzilla is the spawn of nuclear tests in the Pacific, and this time he makes his way quickly to New York City. Matthew Broderick plays an American scientist, Dr. Nick Tatopoulos (a nod to the new creator); Jean Reno is a mysterious agent for the French; Maria Pitillo is a newscaster wannabe; and Hank Azaria is a TV cameraman. Together they battle not just Godzilla but a teeming snake pit of little Godzillas. Though referred to as "he," the monster belongs to transgender...
Cinematic homages abound in the new Godzilla. There are obvious ones to King Kong (with Broderick as the Fay Wray equivalent); then there is the constant damp a la Blade Runner and Alien; an extended attempt to outdo the Jurassic Park raptors; even a wink at the Coneheads ("Where'd you find that guy?" "He's from France"). Critical reaction at early screenings has been mixed. But for a surefire blockbuster like this, reviewers be damned! The film even taunts the critics with a brazen in-joke: the mayor of New York City is a hothead named Ebert, whose campaign...
Devlin and Emmerich approached the project gingerly, having rejected four previous overtures from Sony to take charge of Godzilla. The monster appeared to be unmanageable. Jan De Bont (Speed) tried to tame the beast for a while but gave up after Sony balked at the budget he wanted for a script that had Godzilla battling a shape-shifting beast. James Cameron (Titanic), Tim Burton (Batman) and David Fincher (Alien 3) were among the directors at one time considered to update Godzilla. When Steven Spielberg, who knows from dinosaurs, heard that Devlin and Emmerich were contemplating the movie, he tried...