Godzilla

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.

Like many people, I wasn't fond of this when it was first released. Revisiting it now nearly twenty years later I can say my opinion has changed quite a bit. It's still not a great Godzilla movie, at least not how I quantify that, but it is an enjoyable "big monster movie" on its own merits. The special effects are great, the action is pretty well staged, and the music is surprisingly nice. The only real problems for me are that the cast is a little too goofy at times (I think they were going for some kind of Jurassic Park humorous/serious blend) and the movie does run a little long. Overall, though, I think it's an entertaining movie that deserves a second look.

Matthew Broderik and Jean Reno star in what in the industry is considered a "bomb." It cost a lot but didn't make much money. However, it would be unfair to consider this movie a bad movie. Instead one can view this English version of the relatively more cheesy 1950s Japanese "Godzilla" movies with Jurassic Park overtones as entertaining, blockbuster-like. It attempts along with Broderik's own wonderful personality to insert a fairly large dose of comic humor throughout the movie. Yet the balance between comedy, drama, and horror is more uneven than the best of these monster movies. There a bit more gore than the typical Jurassic Park movies, but not necessarily over the top considering how gory movies have become. There are also lapses in rational or logical chase scenes were Godzilla seems to speed away from helicopters but can't catch up to a speeding taxicab. The attempt to create a somewhat sympathetic monster is also intriguing though it wasn't completely successful in pulling it off. Overall, this is a feel-good action monster movie that could have been better, but it wasn't nearly as awful as the dollar numbers indicate.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Godzilla" (1998) is definitely not a bad guilty pleasure movie. It has pretty good special effects, nice pacing and some good action sequences involving Godzilla himself. Well its not entirely a Godzilla everyone knows, its more of a dinosaur but still its a good looking creature, especially when it interacts with environment (city buildings in this case). The downsides of this movie were pretty lame script at the moments, zero chemistry between Matthew Broderick and Maria Pitillo (and her poor performance as well) and just the look of this movie - literally almost all movie time action takes place at night, sure because its much more easier (and cheaper) to make all the big special effects sequences in a bloody dark, but not so much fun to watch it.

Overall, "Godzilla" is a guilty pleasure. As a pure fun flick it does its job, nothing else and nothing more. A pure guilty pleasure.

(Flash Review)

Starting off relatively well, this turns into Jurassic Park as it felt like a dinosaur chase movie rather than focused on the mythical Godzilla. This new Godzilla also doesn't hold true to many of the original's traits such as what it eats and how it can be killed. Now on American soil of course Godzilla ravages Manhattan while the military try to take him down as they create a ton of (needless) damage. The media desperately looking for the inside scoop also create their own damage by stirring mass hysteria. One special scientist learns Godzilla is pregnant and warns that it's nest of eggs must be found to avoid hatching more of these beasts. As expected, this is full of explosions, destruction, roars, human ineptitude, light romance and heroics. Your typical Hollywood CGI fluff action monster movie with some notable plot holes.