tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post383620515578721138..comments2024-02-18T08:45:16.295-08:00Comments on The Film Connoisseur: The Four American Godzilla FilmsFranco Macabrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-85841218557913448382016-12-25T14:50:52.485-08:002016-12-25T14:50:52.485-08:00This giant iguana looks more realistic that Rat he...This giant iguana looks more realistic that Rat head with kangaroo body made by toho <br />a suit lol this overrated thing for children Crashbandicoot65https://www.blogger.com/profile/15668129609578258913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-24804549112885436712015-04-08T07:34:41.338-07:002015-04-08T07:34:41.338-07:00Never saw it as a remake of that film, but now tha...Never saw it as a remake of that film, but now that you mention it its true. I've always thought it was a mistake to call it Godzilla. Thanks for reading! Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-17893717422827241332015-04-02T13:31:38.550-07:002015-04-02T13:31:38.550-07:00Hello, I stumbled on this site researching MARTYRS...Hello, I stumbled on this site researching MARTYRS. I must add that the 1998 GODZILLA was a marketing blunder.<br />The film was a remake of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, not Godzilla. If one views this film through the lens of Harryhausen, it's a very, very good remake of "THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS." My 2-cents.Pinkynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-80881626823351167682014-04-28T10:20:23.044-07:002014-04-28T10:20:23.044-07:00Brandon Cruise: Yeah, agree, they shoud've jus...Brandon Cruise: Yeah, agree, they shoud've just called it something else instead of Godzilla, I am one of the ones who actually enjoys that movie, but I dont really see it as a Godzilla movie. <br /><br />Zillaman67: Godzilla thrashed New York, there's no mistake in that caption. I did fix the captions about the gryphon and the bat creatures, thanks for pointing that out!<br /><br />I would've loved to see Miners version, it seems to me it had the true Godzilla spirit, unfortunately, back then studios didn't think Godzilla was marketable. But what do they know right? <br /><br />I am salivating over this new Godzilla film, I can't wait! Thanks for commenting Zillaman '67<br />Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-7620298372823045692014-04-28T08:17:21.530-07:002014-04-28T08:17:21.530-07:00Very glad that the Steve Miner 'Godzilla King ...Very glad that the Steve Miner 'Godzilla King of all the Monsters' didn't happen!The Godzilla looks ridiculous-the head is too big, and it looks too much like a tyrannosaur's head. Also if it was being viewed as a 'children's film' it most likely would have sucked. BTW-in one of you Godzilla '98 your caption reads: The Tri-Star Godzilla '98 trashes the city' (or something like that) I must remind you that he 'trashed' the city by running away from the army like a scared rabbit. That was NOT Godzilla-it is now known (officially thanks to Toho's displeasure)as 'Zilla'-a kaiju that was misidentified as Godzilla. That should tell how badly Emmerich's film sucked. A Godzilla that runs and hides, lays eggs because it's 'A-Sexual'(gag), gets lured by piles of little fishies,and looks like a giant iguana with a cash-register jaw? Nope sorry-Tri-Star/Emmerich FAILED miserably. Need to point out a glaring error in another caption. The creature from DeBont's (unproduced) Godzilla film is NOT the 'Gryphon'...it is a probe bat-creatures the Gryphon mutates in a cave when he arrives on earth, and sends out to explore the planet and get information and genetics from earth creatures. Gryphon eventually becomes a mutated hybrid of several earth animals.Google 'Stan Winston's Godzilla'and you will see the ACTUAL maquette of the Gryphon (Winston is holding it)-it looks outrageous. I wish DeBont's film would have been made rather than that stinking pile of manure we got from Devlin/Emmerich! At least Winston's design was faithful to the true Godzilla design! Legendary and Gareth Edwards (God bless him) are doing it RIGHT...we are only 18 days away from the TRUE King of the Monsters!!! :)Zillaman67https://www.blogger.com/profile/17606282435095362498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-23819106787296598222014-03-18T22:37:36.805-07:002014-03-18T22:37:36.805-07:00The French secret police/leggionare did what they ...The French secret police/leggionare did what they did because they had a part in the creation of the bomb(s) that created Zilla. They should've just called the movie Zilla, although I liked it quite a bit. Especially the design of the creature! Beautifully done.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02577826628009004723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-89900932308939141012012-08-19T21:12:32.749-07:002012-08-19T21:12:32.749-07:00Thanks for commenting Bill, it's great when so...Thanks for commenting Bill, it's great when someone who has been a part of an actual film production comments! Cool to know that Dave Stevens, the creator/artist of The Rocketeer was part of this would be project. <br /><br />And wow, a modern take on Rodan, that would have been awesome in deed, I can only imagine what you guys would have come up with! It's so sad when so much time an effort gets put into a possible production, only for it to languish and eventually die in pre-production hell..kind of reminds me of Alejandro Jodorowsky and his proposed take on Frank Herbert's DUNE. Another project that never came to be. <br /><br />Fred Dekker is an awesome director in my book, I've seen all of his films and Tales from the Crypt episodes he directed, you could tell he's a real fan of the genre, a lover of sci-fi and horror, a guy who appreciates these things for real. I mean, Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps, thats an awesome double whammy of awesomeness right there! <br /><br />Too bad both of those films didn't catch on with audiences at the time, but I tell you, it's not because they are bad films...they were just misunderstood. The life these films still have is a testament to how much people love them. <br /><br />It would have been an interesting thing to see what Miner and Dekker dreamed up with Godzilla! Too bad it never came to be, the story boards alone make it look exciting, it was obviously going to be all kinds of awesome. But I guess HOllywood is always cautious with these types of films, they are always afraid of losing money. As if they had no faith in these films so sad. <br /><br />Glad to hear theres a new American Godzilla film in the works, I will be paying lots of attention to that one. Again, thanks for commenting and giving us some insider info Bill, much appreciatedFranco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-86329093658521652642012-08-18T10:59:41.825-07:002012-08-18T10:59:41.825-07:00I was the production designer on the Steve Miner G...I was the production designer on the Steve Miner Godzilla. In addition to Rick Baker we had Dave (Caveman) Allen scheduled to do the film's stop motion animation. Paleoartist Steve Czerkas sculpted the preliminary stop motion figure (with a fully functional armature) based upon my designs. Most of the film was storyboarded by Dave (Rocketeer) Stevens, Doug (Jonny Quest) Wildey and myself, under my supervision. Fred Dekker wrote a phenomenal script. Steve Miner later proved himself to be an incredibly talented and sensitive director of non-sci-fi/horror genre films. It was a real dream team. Had we been able to make the film, I was scheduled to direct the next related film project, a remake of Rodan, with Steve producing.<br />Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12175176789551383392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-81346722453636220182011-11-18T10:58:00.154-08:002011-11-18T10:58:00.154-08:00Glad you liked it Jack, I was amazed myself to fin...Glad you liked it Jack, I was amazed myself to find out all this information, there's more production art work spread around the net, especially for the one that was going to be 3-D, they did extensive storyboarding on that one! <br /><br />Glad your enjoying the blog, thats what its all about!Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-84089951708725528042011-11-18T05:44:49.450-08:002011-11-18T05:44:49.450-08:00Awesome, awesome article. I've watched every G...Awesome, awesome article. I've watched every Godzilla flick and never even heard about these "almost" films. Love that you've included all the costume designs and stuff.<br /><br />Definitely adding this site to my blogs to watch.Jack Thursbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03101157160144955486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-73678623077198971822011-06-09T09:41:23.542-07:002011-06-09T09:41:23.542-07:00@Cal: Glad you found it insightful Cal!
@J.D.: Y...@Cal: Glad you found it insightful Cal! <br /><br />@J.D.: Yeah, the acting was cartoonish most of the time, but then again, Godzilla films were never known for having great actors playing the human roles.<br /><br />Actually, I would dare say that the cast for Godzilla 98 acted better then the cast of a lot of other Godzilla movies I could mention. <br /><br />Jean Reno was my favorite in the film, he made me laugh when he chewed gum and talked like Elvis in order to pass off as an american! One thing I never did quite understand was why did they add that angle about the french secret police being interested in all things Godzilla? I never did quite understand that connection in the film.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-27993074227098676722011-06-09T08:56:50.504-07:002011-06-09T08:56:50.504-07:00Wow, that was some great background info on U.S. G...Wow, that was some great background info on U.S. Godzilla films that never happened. I didn't know any of that stuff!<br /><br />As for Emmerich's version. I think that what killed that film for me was the atrocious acting and gahd-awful dialogue - making the Japanese versions look like Shakespeare in comparison! Okay, maybe not that bad but all of the characters were broad stereotypes and played to the cheap seats with annoying affectations all except Jean Reno who played it as cool as he possibly could under the circumstances.<br /><br />And I won't even get into the Puff Daddy/Jimmy Page mash-up!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-84721457074891628152011-06-09T08:22:46.697-07:002011-06-09T08:22:46.697-07:00wow! I never even knew of the twwo shelved project...wow! I never even knew of the twwo shelved projects, fantastic and insightfull articleCalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14520881675725514554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-67393025249832251862011-06-08T22:04:14.446-07:002011-06-08T22:04:14.446-07:00@ Venom5: Yeah, the box office numbers I mentioned...@ Venom5: Yeah, the box office numbers I mentioned were worldwide, it made a lot of money outside of the U.S., but not as much as they expected in the U.S. itself. Still, it made its budget back, so the Studio was happy. <br /><br />I did read a couple of interviews where Emmerich expressed how much he wanted to get away from the old movies. He definetly had an update in mind. A leaner, more monstrous look. Maybe this movie would have been better had it been titled something else, kind of the same situation that Halloween III went through. That wasnt a bad movie, but most people hate it because it has nothing to do with Michael Myers. Had it been called Season of the Witch, things would have been different. I myself think Halloween III is actually an entertaining film, same as Godzilla 98. <br /><br />I guess I eliminate expectations or association with the previous films and just enjoy it for what it is, a pretty cool monster movie. Not a masterpiece of filmmaking, but it entertains. I love those scenes when Godzilla first emerges from the sea and starts munching on that truck while crossing the street!<br /><br />That Taco Bell story is pretty funny! That just shows how paranoid they were with the secrecy for this movie! They really wanted to get a mystery worked up around the look of the monster for its promotional campaign! I think it worked, most people went to see the film to see what the new Godzilla looked like. <br /><br />FINAL WARS, hee heee, that was a special one. I just got through seeing it! I'll be posting a review on Monday. I thought it was a pretty funny movie by the way, very much like a comic book. But I'll let you read about that on Monday, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on FINAL WARS!Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-5407768107721039272011-06-08T21:50:27.850-07:002011-06-08T21:50:27.850-07:00(Hey I can reply in Spanish too! Im a multi-talent...(Hey I can reply in Spanish too! Im a multi-talented fellow)<br /><br />Me alegro que te haya gustado el articulo Beto, este tipo do cosa muchas veces no sale a la luz publica, hay muchos proyectos asi, que casi llegaron a ser, pero nunca lo fueron. Los restros son estos interesantes artefactos como el arte conceptual, las estatuillas, y a veces, como en el caso de lo que hubiese sido Godzilla '94, quedan hasta sets hechos, que nunca se llegaron a usar. <br /><br />Estoy de acuerdo contigo Beto, eso de los Baby Godzillas fue por la fiebre de Jurassic Park y la novedad en aquella epoca por los efectos de computadoras. A mi entender, Godzilla desaparece por largos ratos de la pelicula y le prestan mas atencion a los velociraptors. <br /><br />Estoy de acuerdo con otro titulo, quizas la pelicula no hubiese recibido tanto odio como el que recibio cuando estreno, de hecho muchos de los fans de Godzilla la odian, yo personalmente la encuentro entretenida. <br /><br />Lo de Godzilla contra el ejercito siempre ha sido parte de estas peliculas, aunque solo una vez los humanos lograron destruir a Godzilla y fue en Gojira donde los humanos utilizaron el "oxygen destroyer" para desintegrar a Godzilla. Esa fue la unica vez donde los humanos ganaron contra Godzilla utilizando sus propias armas. <br /><br />Normalmente a Godzilla lo tumba solo una cosa: otra criatura igual de gigante, y mas poderosa, como KIng Gihdora! <br /><br />Glad you liked the article man! Coming from you that means a lot, you're such a Godzilla fan! Coming up next, reviews for Attack of the Astro Monster and King Gihdora: The Three Headed Monster! Be on the look out for those, I wanna hear what you got to say!Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-85762298790203401202011-06-08T20:45:55.699-07:002011-06-08T20:45:55.699-07:00Great stuff as always, Fran! Only this GODZILLA fr...Great stuff as always, Fran! Only this GODZILLA from 1998 was a bomb here. It grossed under 140 million here versus a 130 million budget minus marketing. I remember there was a lot of consternation surrounding the film post release since both the makers and the studio were so sure this was going to be a massive success. Both Devlin and Emmerich got a lot of much deserved bad press, too after they more or less spit on the original series in interviews and ultimately ignored a string of requests from Toho regarding the treatment of the monster.<br /><br />I was working at Taco Bell part time when this came out and the fast food company was threatened with law suits if the promotional stuff got leaked out before the release date. We couldn't open the boxes or anything till the day the film opened. Needless to say, I went to see it twice to make sure I hadn't imagined how shitty it was. This giant iguana ran from the military, didn't breath fire of any kind and managed to hide in the NY subway system(!!!) undetected(!!!!!). A stupid movie all around rivaled only by the Japanese version of Hara Kiri that is FINAL WARS.venoms5https://www.blogger.com/profile/13655919099947763891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-63000844120021335382011-06-08T18:36:46.917-07:002011-06-08T18:36:46.917-07:00Tremendo reportaje, Franco, aprendi mucho que no s...Tremendo reportaje, Franco, aprendi mucho que no sabia, y para un fanatico de Godzilla, es mucho decir. <br /><br />Creo que si hay que mencionar, que es algo que no mencionaste, es que el Godzilla americano es destruido por los militares. Sabemos que Emmerich tiene el bicho parao' siempre por los militares americanos, pero tu sabes que Godzilla nunca puede morir por armas humanas, asique cuando lo destruyen los tanques, es la cosa mas ridicula que se puede haber visto. Esta pelicula hubiera sido mejor si la hubieran llamado por otro nombre, o si hubiera sido un remake de The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Pero creo que tenia mas que ver por la fiebre de Jurassic Park, por eso los bebe-Godzillas actuan como velociraptors.<br /><br />Godzilla Vs. The Gryphon pudo haber sido brutal.Mr. Fiendishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14400272984451242034noreply@blogger.com