I think my favorite piece of trivia from this movie is that when Siskel and Ebert reviewed the movie they both complained that their stand ins weren’t killed by Godzilla
It was such a petty move by Roland Emmerich because Siskel & Ebert had given his previous films bad reviews. But he couldn’t even go all the way with it. 🤦♂️
From Ebert's review: "These characters are a reaction by Emmerich and Devlin to negative Siskel and Ebert reviews of their earlier movies ("Stargate," "Independence Day"), but they let us off lightly; I fully expected to be squished like a bug by Godzilla. Now that I've inspired a character in a Godzilla movie, all I really still desire is for several Ingmar Bergman characters to sit in a circle and read my reviews to one another in hushed tones."
Probably helps that the Design itself isn't bad it just is nowhere near an actual Godzilla design so i think the "new" names are warranted. Give this guy some kind of power and he could be some Godzilla Sidekick like Anguirus was from time to time.
@@shinrailp1416 Zilla makes no sense as Godzilla, but perfect sense as a foil to Godzilla. I like to think that in such a situation Zilla learns to imitate Godzilla's roar as a means of scaring more powerful monsters.
@@alexanderharoldsen4178 I kinda like to think of him as a subspecies or related species from Godzilla’s species, like how Hippos are related to Dolphins. They’re both different and similar, with them having many different biological and design things but also have some similar features and functions, as well as their use of radiation and breath attacks
The biggest crime of this movie is that Zilla is actually a cool monster design. But for some reason they decided that a giant mutant iguana was fine, but being nigh indestructible and having atomic breath was where they drew the line of believability. The late 90s and early 2000s had a serious problem with trying to make things "believable," and I am so glad we've grow out of that phase. The Legendary Godzilla is a proper King of Monsters.
I've actually grown to appreciate the lighter scene a lot over the years for the dread and mystery it inspires. The old man says "Gojira" with so much fear and knowing that it makes you wonder if the _actual_ Godzilla existed and terrorized sailors long before Zilla was active.
In my head canon, the old Japanese sailor was fearfully talking about the real Godzilla and the rest of the characters mistakenly thinks he's talking about Zilla.
My dad took me to the theater to see this movie when I was a kid. After Godzilla died he leaned over and said "that isn't Godzilla. Jets can't kill godzilla".
Not only was Ebert unimpressed by the parody of him in this movie, but he even said that the film wasted an opportunity to have the monster kill of him and the Siskel clone. A better tagline for this movie would be: "You wanted Godzilla? You got… Zilla."
@@michaelnally2841 " When people you’re making fun of didn’t think you went far enough. You know you screwed up! " As a British person, I see Americans make fun of us all the time and they *NEVER* do it right. They get too mean spirited and showing their mommy issues for a country not even we call the Mother Country!
My wife and I attended G-Con '98 and we got autographs and pics with Nakajima and Satsuma (Godzilla suit actors) as well as Tsuchiya (leader of planet x) and we all went to see godzilla '98 with them as a group. As soon as the scene came on of godzilla running away from the military, Satsuma got up and left the theater. I did not blame him. As many of you might recall, we used to call this monster, G.I.N.O (godzilla in name only)
@@elitepanda3000 I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that you have pics from the G-Con I was talking about or pics of the movie's production?
One of my buds went to this as a kid. He's a big Godzilla fan, and when he saw the creature in the cinema he exclaimed, "What the f**k is that thing supposed to be?", in a loud voice, right in front of his mom.
Haruo Nakajima had a similar reaction. When he saw the movie, he got about halfway through it, jumped to his feet, pointed accusingly at the screen, and shouted in English, "That no Gojira! That iguana!" and stormed out of the theater. Kenpachiro Satsuma would also leave the theater, but he just shook his head and said "It's not Godzilla." Later on, Satsuma would remark "Even Pulgasari was better!" There is actually a great photograph of Nakajima in a theater watching the 2014 film with visible reverence on his face.
Fun Fact: When Toho heard about the American Godzilla they gave them these requirements: -3 rows of dorsal plates -Atomic breath -Ability to stand up right -Attack the military actively -a unstoppable force of nature -and a few others I don’t remember All of these where ignored by Tristar.
Re: The Tatopolous joke. As a younger man, I too thought it was weird how it was a running gag that nobody could say it easily. Years later, after working at a hospital for 20+ years and listening to people struggle to say doctor names of all nationalities, it's the most realistic thing in the whole movie.
There's nothing wrong with a non fan director. Kazuki Omori who wrote/directed Godzilla vs Biollante and Godzilla vs King Ghidorah was not a Godzilla fan (neither was Jun Fukuda). Same for Shasuke Kaneko who did the Heisei Gamera films, he was not a fan of Gamera and look how those films turned out. It was Emmerich's general disdain and contempt for the franchise that was the problem not the fact he wasn't a fan.
@@dinosoid2000 That was the biggest problem: not being a gushing fanboy of the property you're adapting isn't necessarily a problem, but having open contempt for it definitely is!
It's not the fact that Emmerich wasn't a fan of the franchise that was problematic, it's that he had a blatant dislike for it and went out of his way to change almost every fundamental aspect of it due to that dislike.
“Those guys at Toho may be smart, but I'm sure they couldn't see that far into the future. If they could, they never would have gave Roland Emmerich the rights to make a Godzilla movie.” - NES Godzilla creepypasta
@@DavidDrouant Or "Gigantis". And yes, I'm aware that the American re-edit of Godzilla Raids Again is called that, but that name makes it seem like a Godzilla rip-off, and honestly, it fits ol' Zilla a bit better. At least he gets have a different name that no one at the time remembered (Cause let's face it, Gigantis the Fire Monster was a bad re-edit, and that's saying something because Raids Again wasn't particularity good).
I remember watching the animated series and loving it so much. And, quite honestly, I wish Brandon had given it a bit more extra attention in the video.
Yeh but in that series that monster is called Zilla Jr and he actually breathes atomic breath but its green instead of blue and is more faithful to the Godzilla we know and luv.
This movie flopped so that show could run. The writing staff also seemed to know exactly what they were doing most of the time, mad men even snuck in a mechani-kong episode, and a full destroy all monsters 3 parter.
300 episodes and counting. And through it all, you have always stayed true to your original style. Keep them coming, Canadian Brandon! That's what all of us Florida Men call you down here!
Yeah, I like that he has kept his formula true to its origins. Its obvious that he isn't playing a character and it's just basically him being himself in front of a camera
From what I've heard the film was initially supposed to end with the Madison Square Garden bit. The submarines had successfully killed Zilla in the earlier Hudson River scene. And the movie's last shot before the credits rolled was going to be Nick and Co looking at the destroyed Madison Square Garden with a (We won. But at what cost?) kind of feeling. Retconning Zilla's death by the submarines and the final chase scene was a last-minute addition. So that might explain why the movie felt longer than it should have been.
I thought you might've included the fact that Roger Ebert thought he got off easy in this film. When he saw the character wth his name, he was fully expecting to get stepped on by "Godzilla" but was really disappointed that he didn't.
I remember as a kid going to the theatre when it came out enjoying it the first time and hearing from some people who hated it but over the years the more I watched it the more I see why it’s not got the best reputation, but as a kid back in the day I enjoyed it. Congratulations on 300 episodes❤
I was 10 when this came out and I really enjoyed it, same with The Lost World when I saw that the year before. I still have a soft spot for both films to this day.
I can't help but theorize that when the US trailers for Godzilla 2000 dropped, they specifically chose Rob Zombie's "Superbeast" as the song to play over them, partly for the name, but mostly for the chorus lyric "I'm the one that you wanted!" It's as if the producers realized the '98 film's misstep and they're calling out to the OG fans, saying "We're sorry for the crappy '98 film! THIS is the Godzilla we shoulda given you!"
As a kid, I actually thought that there were _two_ adult Godzillas in the movie; a male, seen for most of the movie and ultimately killed by the submarines, and a female, which was "guarding" the nest and the last one to fall. It's amazing how much of the boring dialogue my child-brain tuned out to save myself from asking way too many questions! 😆
May I ask how old you were? Cause I was 9 at the time and didn't think that but I actively was paying attention to plot (my dumb 9yo brain had no reference point to the real Godzilla so I enjoyed big Dino and explosions) Just wanted to see if there was an age cut off where as a kid you'd just watch but didn't care for the story.
There definitely seems to be a pattern with Roland Emmerich: his ability to make teaser trailers is more impressive than the actual movies themselves. Unless that's just his editors doing a good job.
While this monster was executed poorly, I do like what they did for Zilla in Monster Apocalypse, where it becomes a swarm/infestation type kaiju, nesting up in a city and overwhelming the military through numbers and rapid maturing after hatching. Really gave the monster an identity
They also made it super fast. So while it can't take hits it rarely does. Like imagine that monster outrunning a bullet train and there are hundreds of them.
@@DrizzyDrew47 It's a novel about a number of events that forced humanity to leave Earth in collaboration with 2 alien races. It's also the prologue to Godzilla Earth.
@@DrizzyDrew47 from some Googling it appears to be a Japanese prequel book to some anime Godzilla movies that released a few years ago. Google informs me those movies start with Humanity already off earth and the books report to be in the universe interviews and things with people who talk about what led them to leave the planet. Alas, if there is an English translation I did not find it upon briefly looking for it. Sounded cool though.
I saw this in theaters as a kid and believed the giant iguana was the monster Godzilla was going to fight. It wasn't until half way through the movie my 11yo brain began to realize that is Godzilla. Oh... I was so disappointed.
This whole movie can be redeemed with just two lines of dialog: one at the beginning by a government official briefing the protaganists about a reported incident in Tokyo in the 1950's, which was subsequently covered up to prevent global panic, about the appearance of a giant monster that the locals named "Godzilla"; and one at the end by the same government official during a de-briefing where survivors of the 1950's attack were shown photographs of the dead monster which they confirmed was NOT the one that attacked Tokyo.
That happened at the beginning and end of 1998? No you’re thinking about dialogue from other Godzilla films. Cuz I don’t remember anything of what you just said being present in the 1998 film itself.
@@anonymousgoblin792 Read my comment again. I didn't say those lines were in the film, I said the film can be redeemed by the inclusion of those lines of dalog. That's why I said "CAN be redeemed", not "IS redeemed."
@@zz3167 yes, tye G-Force stand-ins (not sure if they have a different name, oh well) say there was an incident in New York the Americans claimed is Godzilla, but they have their doubts. I wanna say its in Godzilla vs Megagirus
Just think about the alternate timeline we would be living in if Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin read the 1994 Elliot & Rossio screenplay and LOVED it instead of wanting to start over from scratch.
this was actually my introduction to Godzilla. this led me to search and watch the heishe era Godzilla films for free on RUclips. I couldn't find an full English version at the time and had to watch everything in Japanese without a clue to what was been said.
I hope you make it to 400 and beyond. Your show makes me wanna watch movies i would have never given a chance and helps me relive childhood memories for the ones I do recognize. Keep up the great work, Brandon, and congratulations on 300 episodes.
Fun fact: I actually DID have a gag where I said "What, is Godzilla voiced by Dan Castellaneta too?" & then dubbed Homer Simpson's scream over Godzilla running away from the military, but I cut it for time.
(updated) I have a soft spot for this film and I - as a kid - thought the CG FXs were better than suitmation. I, of course, grew up to respect practical FXs and most of the Japanese Godzilla films; with the original 1954 film, the Heisei films (1984-1995), *"Shin Godzilla"* and *"Godzilla: Minus One"* as my fa-vorite films of the franchise.
"wow! I still haven't washed that sock I swiped from your dorm room in college." "What?" "Ummm...nothin'!" Absolutely hilarious! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Congrats. Between that line and the awesome review for Vampirella (which led me here), you've earned a new subscriber!
Fun fact: the scene in the beginning where the military found Godzilla footprints were real footprints the production crew made. Footprint scene was filmed in exact same valley/ranch in Hawaii as Jurassic Park, 50 first Dates, Jurassic World, Tropic Thunder and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. Techincally the footprint is still there but its not as deep as in the movie because, the cows on the ranch kept falling into them.
I think the dumbest thing about this movie is when they have Godzilla in the Hudson Harbor the deepest depth of the Hudson river is 203 ft Godzilla in this movie was almost 300 ft even if he was laying flat in the water as we see him swimming in the shallow end of it he's bobbing and weaving left and right under there and somehow fitting under the water perfectly fine and had such a hard time tracking him in real life you would be able to see that from the surface every time he moved
I actually kinda like this one. Biggest problem is that it is Godzilla; if they just named that thing something else it would be like a great homage to the kaiju genre.
Yeah. Like the comparison's Brandon frequently made here, if this had just been a remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, it would have been much better. It still would have had boring acting and whatnot, but at least it wouldn't be pretending to be something it's not.
Happy 300 Brandon! 🥳 Great movie to pick for the tricentennial! It really did start out promising. That opening scene was perfectly shot for a movie that had zero chance of nailing the landing.
As bad as people bash this movie, this movie was my introduction to Godzilla in 1998 when I was 7 years old. After this movie, I saw Godzilla vs. Gigan. I got hooked. I've been a Godzilla fan for 26 years now.
Congratulations on 300 episodes! And thanks for exposing me to a ton of movies I'd never heard of or wouldn't have bothered paying attention to otherwise!
I've always had a soft spot for this movie. When I was young, I watched this almost every day. I just watched this recently, and I can see the many faults it contains. In my eyes I can never hate this movie, it's more of a guilty pleasure.
Things I learned about Rolland Emmerich from this movie: 1- He's VERY good at building exciting setpieces with great tension and delivery 2- He SUCKS at writing characters and understanding when they're not that fun or interesting to look at 3- He has a weird grudge against Greek surnames
Your movie reviews have gotten me through alot of overnight security shits. Thank you. I'm south of Canada, just under the lake, in Ohio. I enjoy your show. Thanks for the laughs.
I know many hate this movie with a burning passion, but.... I'm not one those who hated it. This movie holds a special place in my heart, I still remember going to a drive in theater with my mom and brothers and being spooked hearing Godzilla's roar through my car speakers. This movie and its animated series made me a Godzilla fan.
I was pregnant with my daughter Jadzia, named for Star Trek Deep Space Nine, but my grandmother couldnt get it and kept calling her crazy versions of Godzilla because the new 1998 movie was advertised so much. Eventually she got it right, but that movie will always be in my brain because of it. ❤
I have very nostalgic values to this movie, mostly because it was the only Godzilla movie I had on VHS as a kid. Which is ironic considering my family and I are full blooded Japanese.
Happy 300th episode Brandon! This film has I would say the best history out of all films given what it was at the time of creation and what it has gained in the years following it's creation.
I agree with what you said the monster in this movie looked amazing it just didn’t look like Godzilla fans probably would’ve liked it better if it was its own movie and not branded as Godzilla.
I appreciate the length of this video. I can tell you are dedicated to your channel. Like twice a year i binge your videos and it just takes me on all these adventures, while i learn things about the industry. Appreciate ya!! 😊 (Edit: Also I like how with this and Halloween III your not afraid to comment on the positives.)
I thought it was an ok Godzilla film, it’s one of the most original Godzilla designs and I appreciate it for it. Well, I really made this comment for was to say, I really hope to see a marketing campaign for a Godzilla movie this big someday. I was born in the 2000s so I unfortunately missed it. I just… I wish I could see something remotely similar happen to Godzilla again.
Not me no way lol. Godzilla should at least stay the same. No need to turn him into some stupid iguana looking dino crap nonsense that runs away from the military and gets killed by them too
@@NeroAngelo616lol buddy every godzilla design is different but still familiar, different 100% from top to bottom doesn't automatically mean better. That's just changing something for the sake of changing it because reasons. When people think of godzilla, they think of a upright standing dinosaur looking creature, not what g98 did. G98 stans truly don't know what godzilla is 😅
20:21 To this day, this part still cracks me up. There's just no way a blood sample from a giant mutated iguana could work on a human pregnancy test device.
Always loved this movie it was actually the first Godzilla movie I ever saw got me into the Godzilla franchise. Great movie in my opinion and still holds up as one of my favorite to this day.
Congratulations Brandon on 300 episodes. I remember the marketing for this film from Taco Bell and the tv commercials as a kid. Saw it like 3 years after it came out and I was not too impressed. Looking back at it now, it’s just a generic monster film. Although the destruction and effects are ok.
One of the reasons they used the French was because a few years before they did a couple of nuclear weapons tests (one of the last countries to do so) in 1996. Over the condemnation of all nuclear powers. So it was an easy link to a real world current event.
I just got back from Minus One. Obviously the best. But this movie still holds a special place in my damn heart and I'll love it no matter what. It was the film as a child that introduced me to both godzilla films and kaiju films in general. And no matter what critiques one can have, gotta admit 2 things 1. They had some balls changing the design drastically. Not a perfect final design but still good to take risks even if they fail 2. The music is damn GOLD. That intro theme song was amazing
I have an interesting story to share regarding the Mayor Ebert character. 5 months before this movie came out, Roger Ebert, in his review of Scream 2, suggested that in the third film the killer should be a movie critic out to discredit horror movies so he'd never have to sit thru another one again. When I read this, I immediately had a mental image of Wes Craven not only running with this idea, but having the killer critic be a Roger Ebert lookalike as a tribute to the idea. The actor I pictured in the role was none other than Michael Lerner, who plays Mayor Ebert.
What do you think of the 1998 Godzilla? Is it as bad as people say, worth another look or just a bad 'Godzilla' movie?
When’s the next Godzilla review?
I think it's good at being it's own thing, but not as a Godzilla movie
Nice review
I don’t know I’ve watched it a few times bUt zilla Jr is better
If it wasn’t marketed as Godzilla, and be it’s only franchise, it would have been good
I think my favorite piece of trivia from this movie is that when Siskel and Ebert reviewed the movie they both complained that their stand ins weren’t killed by Godzilla
that's fucking hilarious
It was such a petty move by Roland Emmerich because Siskel & Ebert had given his previous films bad reviews.
But he couldn’t even go all the way with it. 🤦♂️
@@michaelsinger4638 yeah, instead they just sorta....existed.
They even said something along the lines of "if you're going to put us in it, at least have G kill us or do something interesting"
From Ebert's review: "These characters are a reaction by Emmerich and Devlin to negative Siskel and Ebert reviews of their earlier movies ("Stargate," "Independence Day"), but they let us off lightly; I fully expected to be squished like a bug by Godzilla. Now that I've inspired a character in a Godzilla movie, all I really still desire is for several Ingmar Bergman characters to sit in a circle and read my reviews to one another in hushed tones."
Weirdly enough Zilla himself became sort of beloved in the Kaiju fandom as an entity separate from Godzilla. Mostly, thanks to the animated series
Probably helps that the Design itself isn't bad it just is nowhere near an actual Godzilla design so i think the "new" names are warranted. Give this guy some kind of power and he could be some Godzilla Sidekick like Anguirus was from time to time.
@@shinrailp1416 Zilla makes no sense as Godzilla, but perfect sense as a foil to Godzilla. I like to think that in such a situation Zilla learns to imitate Godzilla's roar as a means of scaring more powerful monsters.
@@alexanderharoldsen4178 I kinda like to think of him as a subspecies or related species from Godzilla’s species, like how Hippos are related to Dolphins. They’re both different and similar, with them having many different biological and design things but also have some similar features and functions, as well as their use of radiation and breath attacks
He was also greatly redeemed in Rulers of Earth the comic.
@@shinrailp1416wym Zilla has the best Godzilla design next to Godzilla 2000.
The biggest crime of this movie is that Zilla is actually a cool monster design. But for some reason they decided that a giant mutant iguana was fine, but being nigh indestructible and having atomic breath was where they drew the line of believability. The late 90s and early 2000s had a serious problem with trying to make things "believable," and I am so glad we've grow out of that phase. The Legendary Godzilla is a proper King of Monsters.
I've heard people say that 2014 was the better Godzilla movie. But 1998 was the better monster movie.
@@Chaos-Zakai64mmhmm I wouldnt say so
even ig Zilla herself is kinda cool the 2014 characters are a bit better (which isnt saying that much honestly)
@@lmaurexzilla is a he
@@THE_DARK_RAYZilla dosen’t have a gender it reproduces asexually
@@THE_DARK_RAY he was pregnant
I've actually grown to appreciate the lighter scene a lot over the years for the dread and mystery it inspires.
The old man says "Gojira" with so much fear and knowing that it makes you wonder if the _actual_ Godzilla existed and terrorized sailors long before Zilla was active.
Given this film is canon in "Giant Monster All Out Attack" and "Final Wars", your theory might be true
In my head canon, the old Japanese sailor was fearfully talking about the real Godzilla and the rest of the characters mistakenly thinks he's talking about Zilla.
Nice train of thought!
As much as I admit that it’s a guilty pleasure of mine, it is a genuinely good, suspenseful scene.
The scene was a holdover from the Elliot and Rosso script where there was a legendary monster known as "Gojira."
My dad took me to the theater to see this movie when I was a kid. After Godzilla died he leaned over and said "that isn't Godzilla. Jets can't kill godzilla".
Not only was Ebert unimpressed by the parody of him in this movie, but he even said that the film wasted an opportunity to have the monster kill of him and the Siskel clone.
A better tagline for this movie would be:
"You wanted Godzilla? You got… Zilla."
When people you’re making fun of didn’t think you went far enough. You know you screwed up!
@@michaelnally2841 " When people you’re making fun of didn’t think you went far enough. You know you screwed up! "
As a British person, I see Americans make fun of us all the time and they *NEVER* do it right. They get too mean spirited and showing their mommy issues for a country not even we call the Mother Country!
You are aware that Siskel and Ebert played those characters, right?
@@nomadmarauder-dw9re Not really. Those actors just happened to look like Siskel and Ebert.
@@marygonzalez2472 Well, Doggies, you're right! They should've been nominated!
My wife and I attended G-Con '98 and we got autographs and pics with Nakajima and Satsuma (Godzilla suit actors) as well as Tsuchiya (leader of planet x) and we all went to see godzilla '98 with them as a group. As soon as the scene came on of godzilla running away from the military, Satsuma got up and left the theater. I did not blame him.
As many of you might recall, we used to call this monster, G.I.N.O (godzilla in name only)
Tbh that sounds ALOT cooler than zilla lol
@@VintageNarwhal Dang right! LOL
@@gen-xnerdcouch7627I’m the only one with pictures of the filming of this movie
@@elitepanda3000 I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that you have pics from the G-Con I was talking about or pics of the movie's production?
One of my buds went to this as a kid. He's a big Godzilla fan, and when he saw the creature in the cinema he exclaimed, "What the f**k is that thing supposed to be?", in a loud voice, right in front of his mom.
A child's intuition is keen.
Haruo Nakajima had a similar reaction. When he saw the movie, he got about halfway through it, jumped to his feet, pointed accusingly at the screen, and shouted in English, "That no Gojira! That iguana!" and stormed out of the theater.
Kenpachiro Satsuma would also leave the theater, but he just shook his head and said "It's not Godzilla." Later on, Satsuma would remark "Even Pulgasari was better!"
There is actually a great photograph of Nakajima in a theater watching the 2014 film with visible reverence on his face.
@@ConstantineFurman I'd watch Pulgasari over this tripe any day of the week.
Pulgasari is fucking great tbh.
@@ConstantineFurmanwasn’t Satsuma kidnapped in order to film Pulgassari?
Fun Fact: When Toho heard about the American Godzilla they gave them these requirements:
-3 rows of dorsal plates
-Atomic breath
-Ability to stand up right
-Attack the military actively
-a unstoppable force of nature
-and a few others I don’t remember
All of these where ignored by Tristar.
Wait actually? Bruh
Toes and hands were also kinda cool
He did have 3 rows of dorsal plates and could technically stand upright
And he had a power breath which was also a fire breath
@@keytendegraef4332 shut up lol😂😂😂 that was just fish breath 😂 if you liked that garbage go on
Fun Fact: To keep Godzilla's full look a secret, all toys and cups of him were never released until the movie opened.
Except Taco Bell released their junk early
Bet those campaigns failed.
Tbh it's not a bad design, it's just not Godzilla. Like if the design had been used in a non Godzilla film it'd be fine.
@@rheahorvath9274 nope, it worked out amazing for them, they made a boat load of money from just the merch
@@c.d.rstudios4691 Interesting to know!! Good thing I didn't put my money down on the table. Thanks for letting me know 😊!!!!
“If all else fails, you can always blame the French”
Spoken like a true Englishman.
Isn't he Canadian?
@@mitchellulrich930 Yes but the joke is that British people love making fun of the French
@@kneeofjustice9619 It's OK. Western Canadians feel the same way about the Québecois.
Or any non Québécois Canadian.
I'm French and I agree.
Re: The Tatopolous joke. As a younger man, I too thought it was weird how it was a running gag that nobody could say it easily. Years later, after working at a hospital for 20+ years and listening to people struggle to say doctor names of all nationalities, it's the most realistic thing in the whole movie.
I thought that was as cheesy as the Ice puns in Batman and Robin.
Ya, its super accurate
@@Lee-Darin"What killed the dinosaurs? THE ICE AGE!!!"
yeah. as somebody with an unusual and tricky to spell name, this was basically my childhood.
"If someone isn't a fan of the thing they're adapting, then they probably shouldn't do it."
Hollywood: I'm going to pretend I didn’t hear that.
There's nothing wrong with a non fan director. Kazuki Omori who wrote/directed Godzilla vs Biollante and Godzilla vs King Ghidorah was not a Godzilla fan (neither was Jun Fukuda). Same for Shasuke Kaneko who did the Heisei Gamera films, he was not a fan of Gamera and look how those films turned out. It was Emmerich's general disdain and contempt for the franchise that was the problem not the fact he wasn't a fan.
@@dinosoid2000 hollywood looks for directors who actively disdain the source material, apparently.
@@dinosoid2000 That was the biggest problem: not being a gushing fanboy of the property you're adapting isn't necessarily a problem, but having open contempt for it definitely is!
See, this is why I am a HUGE FAN of Prince Planet to make my adaptation.
@@TheBrandonTenoldthat is a very good point. If you actively hate the thing you are adapting, you shouldn’t adapt it.
It's not the fact that Emmerich wasn't a fan of the franchise that was problematic, it's that he had a blatant dislike for it and went out of his way to change almost every fundamental aspect of it due to that dislike.
Like Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi
that's based when you look at cinema nowdays
Wrong choice! Jan debont should had said no to speed 2 and did Godzilla
“Those guys at Toho may be smart, but I'm sure they couldn't see that far into the future. If they could, they never would have gave Roland Emmerich the rights to make a Godzilla movie.”
- NES Godzilla creepypasta
So what?
As my Japanese friend said when it was released, "I'd be fine with the movie if it just wasn't called "Godzilla".
Monster Mayhem
@@DavidDrouant Or "Gigantis".
And yes, I'm aware that the American re-edit of Godzilla Raids Again is called that, but that name makes it seem like a Godzilla rip-off, and honestly, it fits ol' Zilla a bit better. At least he gets have a different name that no one at the time remembered (Cause let's face it, Gigantis the Fire Monster was a bad re-edit, and that's saying something because Raids Again wasn't particularity good).
I feel the same way about the Starship Troopers movie.
the animated series was pretty good. i'd recommend it to those who haven't seen it. godzilla is actually a total badass in those show.
Agreed. Zilla Jr was Toho Godzilla worthy.
Took the Toho monster and made them into animated form
The Godzilla animated series that takes place after this film makes the entire movie worth existing. That' how badass it was.
I remember watching the animated series and loving it so much. And, quite honestly, I wish Brandon had given it a bit more extra attention in the video.
The cartoon made me sort of like this film despite it's many problems.
Yeh but in that series that monster is called Zilla Jr and he actually breathes atomic breath but its green instead of blue and is more faithful to the Godzilla we know and luv.
Kinda like how ''''The Clone Wars'''' vindicated the whole SW Prequels
This movie flopped so that show could run. The writing staff also seemed to know exactly what they were doing most of the time, mad men even snuck in a mechani-kong episode, and a full destroy all monsters 3 parter.
As a Greek person, I've never related to a running gag more in my life.
300 episodes and counting. And through it all, you have always stayed true to your original style. Keep them coming, Canadian Brandon! That's what all of us Florida Men call you down here!
Yeah, I like that he has kept his formula true to its origins. Its obvious that he isn't playing a character and it's just basically him being himself in front of a camera
Happy 300th episode, Brandon Tenold. I'm glad you got review a Godzilla movie that not even TOHO would not bother to flag it.
🚩Comment Flagged by Toho🚩
Dude, don't jinx it!
From what I've heard the film was initially supposed to end with the Madison Square Garden bit. The submarines had successfully killed Zilla in the earlier Hudson River scene. And the movie's last shot before the credits rolled was going to be Nick and Co looking at the destroyed Madison Square Garden with a (We won. But at what cost?) kind of feeling. Retconning Zilla's death by the submarines and the final chase scene was a last-minute addition. So that might explain why the movie felt longer than it should have been.
Personal opinion but damn that original ending sounds even worse than the one we got.
Don't forget the cameos of the Simpsons voice actors( there are 3 of them)
I thought you might've included the fact that Roger Ebert thought he got off easy in this film. When he saw the character wth his name, he was fully expecting to get stepped on by "Godzilla" but was really disappointed that he didn't.
"Give me a Gremlins 2 treatment you German Michael Bay Spielberg wannabe wuss!"
I remember as a kid going to the theatre when it came out enjoying it the first time and hearing from some people who hated it but over the years the more I watched it the more I see why it’s not got the best reputation, but as a kid back in the day I enjoyed it. Congratulations on 300 episodes❤
I was 10 when this came out and I really enjoyed it, same with The Lost World when I saw that the year before. I still have a soft spot for both films to this day.
@@Demonico-j7x 😀 same age as well
This movie is a guilty pleasure of mine
The movies biggest crime is being title Godzilla. Outside that it is a fun and great Kaiju film.
"Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in Iowa." As someone from Nebraska, I both approve and applaud this joke.
I’m from Iowa and I approve this message 👍🏽
@@veramanuel55me too.
I can't help but theorize that when the US trailers for Godzilla 2000 dropped, they specifically chose Rob Zombie's "Superbeast" as the song to play over them, partly for the name, but mostly for the chorus lyric "I'm the one that you wanted!" It's as if the producers realized the '98 film's misstep and they're calling out to the OG fans, saying "We're sorry for the crappy '98 film! THIS is the Godzilla we shoulda given you!"
You be surprised how common of a mindset some people have 😅 in relation to your theory
GMK was the film we should've gotten instead of both 98 and 2000 imo
As a kid, I actually thought that there were _two_ adult Godzillas in the movie; a male, seen for most of the movie and ultimately killed by the submarines, and a female, which was "guarding" the nest and the last one to fall. It's amazing how much of the boring dialogue my child-brain tuned out to save myself from asking way too many questions! 😆
Same.
Glad to see that I wasn’t the only one to think that as a kid
So did I.
May I ask how old you were? Cause I was 9 at the time and didn't think that but I actively was paying attention to plot (my dumb 9yo brain had no reference point to the real Godzilla so I enjoyed big Dino and explosions)
Just wanted to see if there was an age cut off where as a kid you'd just watch but didn't care for the story.
@@TheTerribleToph I was 8 at the time.
There definitely seems to be a pattern with Roland Emmerich: his ability to make teaser trailers is more impressive than the actual movies themselves. Unless that's just his editors doing a good job.
While this monster was executed poorly, I do like what they did for Zilla in Monster Apocalypse, where it becomes a swarm/infestation type kaiju, nesting up in a city and overwhelming the military through numbers and rapid maturing after hatching. Really gave the monster an identity
They also made it super fast. So while it can't take hits it rarely does. Like imagine that monster outrunning a bullet train and there are hundreds of them.
@Prehistoric Hero eh, the animated show made the best of a bad movie
What’s monster apocalypse? This is the first time I’m hearing of it
@@DrizzyDrew47 It's a novel about a number of events that forced humanity to leave Earth in collaboration with 2 alien races. It's also the prologue to Godzilla Earth.
@@DrizzyDrew47 from some Googling it appears to be a Japanese prequel book to some anime Godzilla movies that released a few years ago. Google informs me those movies start with Humanity already off earth and the books report to be in the universe interviews and things with people who talk about what led them to leave the planet.
Alas, if there is an English translation I did not find it upon briefly looking for it. Sounded cool though.
Perfect 300th episode I’d say. I also loved your little lesson to various movie studios regarding directors not wanting to do stuff.
I saw this in theaters as a kid and believed the giant iguana was the monster Godzilla was going to fight. It wasn't until half way through the movie my 11yo brain began to realize that is Godzilla. Oh... I was so disappointed.
This whole movie can be redeemed with just two lines of dialog: one at the beginning by a government official briefing the protaganists about a reported incident in Tokyo in the 1950's, which was subsequently covered up to prevent global panic, about the appearance of a giant monster that the locals named "Godzilla"; and one at the end by the same government official during a de-briefing where survivors of the 1950's attack were shown photographs of the dead monster which they confirmed was NOT the one that attacked Tokyo.
Didn't TOHO do that already in 2001 titled Godzilla: GMK (real title is long BTW) near the beginning of that very film?
That happened at the beginning and end of 1998? No you’re thinking about dialogue from other Godzilla films. Cuz I don’t remember anything of what you just said being present in the 1998 film itself.
@@anonymousgoblin792 Read my comment again. I didn't say those lines were in the film, I said the film can be redeemed by the inclusion of those lines of dalog. That's why I said "CAN be redeemed", not "IS redeemed."
@@zz3167 yes, tye G-Force stand-ins (not sure if they have a different name, oh well) say there was an incident in New York the Americans claimed is Godzilla, but they have their doubts. I wanna say its in Godzilla vs Megagirus
Honestly I agree, coulda been a fun teaser
Congrats on hitting the 300 episode mark, Brandon!!! 🎉👍
This film is like asking your mother if you can have Japanese Godzilla and your mum saying, no, we have American Godzilla at home.
Just think about the alternate timeline we would be living in if Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin read the 1994 Elliot & Rossio screenplay and LOVED it instead of wanting to start over from scratch.
That visual of Godzilla humping that skyscraper is forever canon in my head.
ALSO, HAPPY 300TH EPISODES, BRANDON! 🥃
Now in my head
So, I wasn’t the only one who noticed this lol.
It was both the most awesome thing ever, and the most traumatizing thing ever.
Mostly the latter for those in the skyscraper i imagine.
It ain't the size that matters, it's what you do with it!
I pity the outside window washing crew, next morning
I saw it with two friends of mine and at the end of the film we looked at each other, the looks on our faces saying, ‘What the HELL was that?’ 😂
this was actually my introduction to Godzilla. this led me to search and watch the heishe era Godzilla films for free on RUclips. I couldn't find an full English version at the time and had to watch everything in Japanese without a clue to what was been said.
I hope you make it to 400 and beyond. Your show makes me wanna watch movies i would have never given a chance and helps me relive childhood memories for the ones I do recognize. Keep up the great work, Brandon, and congratulations on 300 episodes.
Same here! I've watched quite a few of the movies he goes over now! Especially the Asian ones that were never on my radar
12:54 missed opportunity to have Homer Simpson’s scream dubbed over Godzilla’s roar 😂
Fun fact: I actually DID have a gag where I said "What, is Godzilla voiced by Dan Castellaneta too?" & then dubbed Homer Simpson's scream over Godzilla running away from the military, but I cut it for time.
Congratulations on the 300 episode milestone! Here’s to 300 more of the insane and the absurd cult classics!
The most impactful scenes from this were the ones with boats. The scene with the three fishing boats specifically always unnerved me.
Fun fact: Roger Ebert complained that Emmerich's gag caricature of him was a wasted opportunity since he never got killed by Zilla
(updated)
I have a soft spot for this film and I
- as a kid - thought the CG FXs were better than suitmation. I, of course, grew up to respect practical FXs and most of the Japanese Godzilla films; with the original 1954 film, the Heisei films (1984-1995), *"Shin Godzilla"*
and *"Godzilla: Minus One"* as my fa-vorite films of the franchise.
"wow! I still haven't washed that sock I swiped from your dorm room in college." "What?" "Ummm...nothin'!" Absolutely hilarious! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Congrats. Between that line and the awesome review for Vampirella (which led me here), you've earned a new subscriber!
Fun fact: the scene in the beginning where the military found Godzilla footprints were real footprints the production crew made. Footprint scene was filmed in exact same valley/ranch in Hawaii as Jurassic Park, 50 first Dates, Jurassic World, Tropic Thunder and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. Techincally the footprint is still there but its not as deep as in the movie because, the cows on the ranch kept falling into them.
I have stood in that footprint! Kualoa ranch
Brandon is doing everything he can to not cover Godzilla's revenge.
Well, yeah
to be fair I don't think we wish having to watch that movie on anybody.
Honestly that movie is bad but I won’t let my worst enemy watch it. It is that bad
He already did Gamera Super Monster. So doing Godzilla revenge is kinda tame in comparison.
Actually Toho is doing everything they can to make sure I don't cover that one.
I think the dumbest thing about this movie is when they have Godzilla in the Hudson Harbor the deepest depth of the Hudson river is 203 ft Godzilla in this movie was almost 300 ft even if he was laying flat in the water as we see him swimming in the shallow end of it he's bobbing and weaving left and right under there and somehow fitting under the water perfectly fine and had such a hard time tracking him in real life you would be able to see that from the surface every time he moved
I actually kinda like this one. Biggest problem is that it is Godzilla; if they just named that thing something else it would be like a great homage to the kaiju genre.
Yeah. Like the comparison's Brandon frequently made here, if this had just been a remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, it would have been much better. It still would have had boring acting and whatnot, but at least it wouldn't be pretending to be something it's not.
Yeah, if it was a remake of 20,000 Fathoms or a original monster like Cloverfield, it’d be better.
No , it wouldn't, lol.
@@kingkold Perhaps...less sucky would be more accurate.
Happy 300 Brandon! 🥳 Great movie to pick for the tricentennial! It really did start out promising. That opening scene was perfectly shot for a movie that had zero chance of nailing the landing.
As bad as people bash this movie, this movie was my introduction to Godzilla in 1998 when I was 7 years old. After this movie, I saw Godzilla vs. Gigan. I got hooked. I've been a Godzilla fan for 26 years now.
”Got hooked”
I see what you did there
Congratulations on 300 episodes! And thanks for exposing me to a ton of movies I'd never heard of or wouldn't have bothered paying attention to otherwise!
I've always had a soft spot for this movie. When I was young, I watched this almost every day. I just watched this recently, and I can see the many faults it contains. In my eyes I can never hate this movie, it's more of a guilty pleasure.
Things I learned about Rolland Emmerich from this movie:
1- He's VERY good at building exciting setpieces with great tension and delivery
2- He SUCKS at writing characters and understanding when they're not that fun or interesting to look at
3- He has a weird grudge against Greek surnames
That Tucker & Dale reference came out of nowhere and I love it 😄
Tbh, the only good thing about this movie was that it lead to the animated series.
True animated series of this was better than the movie in so many ways even replacing the fire breath with plasma fire breath
That was such a great show!
And the Millennium Series!
I would argue that the soundtrack had some good tunes, but I was only 16 back then.
And Godzilla 2000, and The MonsterVerse, and Shin Godzilla!
Your movie reviews have gotten me through alot of overnight security shits. Thank you. I'm south of Canada, just under the lake, in Ohio. I enjoy your show. Thanks for the laughs.
Congrats on reaching a milestone of 300th Episode, Brandon!
I honestly love this movie. And the animated sequel series. They're pretty much the reason I'm a Godzilla fan in the first place.
*Wow, I can’t believe they changed Godzilla from a mutated dinosaur to a mutated politician*
I loved this movie as a child but rewatching as an adult made me realize I might have an undiagnosed learning disability for loving this.
I know many hate this movie with a burning passion, but.... I'm not one those who hated it.
This movie holds a special place in my heart, I still remember going to a drive in theater with my mom and brothers and being spooked hearing Godzilla's roar through my car speakers.
This movie and its animated series made me a Godzilla fan.
I was pregnant with my daughter Jadzia, named for Star Trek Deep Space Nine, but my grandmother couldnt get it and kept calling her crazy versions of Godzilla because the new 1998 movie was advertised so much. Eventually she got it right, but that movie will always be in my brain because of it. ❤
THANK YOU BRANDON! this made my Friday. here's to 300 more episodes!
Let's look at the bright side, the animated series based on this movie was actually pretty good addition to Godzilla franchise.
The animated series carried this movie HARD. Hence why fans of Zilla when name comes up, the animated series always front and center.
19:35
Pilot: I think I lost him
Godzilla: PSYCH!!!!
I have very nostalgic values to this movie, mostly because it was the only Godzilla movie I had on VHS as a kid. Which is ironic considering my family and I are full blooded Japanese.
Happy 300th episode Brandon!
This film has I would say the best history out of all films given what it was at the time of creation and what it has gained in the years following it's creation.
Brandon, you hit all the points I would have made about this film. I’m so glad to have been a subscriber to your channel for many years.
Congrats on 300 episodes! Here's to many more!
Happy 300 episodes, dude! You have introduced me to so many weird movies, and I thank you for it.
"How could something so big disappear?" My pull-out game.
Without this movie I never would have fallen in love with the original, so I am glad this is covered. Congratulations on 300th video Brandon.
Congrats on 300 episodes Brandon! That is pretty incredible man! Godzilla 98 was, not so much though.
I agree with what you said the monster in this movie looked amazing it just didn’t look like Godzilla fans probably would’ve liked it better if it was its own movie and not branded as Godzilla.
Congrats Brandon, love the channel.
I always thought this was a fine giant monster movie, just not a Godzilla movie.
I appreciate the length of this video. I can tell you are dedicated to your channel. Like twice a year i binge your videos and it just takes me on all these adventures, while i learn things about the industry. Appreciate ya!! 😊 (Edit: Also I like how with this and Halloween III your not afraid to comment on the positives.)
I thought it was an ok Godzilla film, it’s one of the most original Godzilla designs and I appreciate it for it.
Well, I really made this comment for was to say, I really hope to see a marketing campaign for a Godzilla movie this big someday. I was born in the 2000s so I unfortunately missed it. I just… I wish I could see something remotely similar happen to Godzilla again.
Not me no way lol. Godzilla should at least stay the same. No need to turn him into some stupid iguana looking dino crap nonsense that runs away from the military and gets killed by them too
@@ayiogojo5642 okay.
If it wasn't for this movie I would have never got into Godzilla I love this movie.
The truth. Best Godzilla design also.
@@NeroAngelo616 Nah. I get some people prefer a realistic appearance, but it's really not very good.
@@TKDragon75 1998 design mogs most of the safe boring ass conventional designs to Pluto and back. It's got Gigachad basis.
@@NeroAngelo616lol buddy every godzilla design is different but still familiar, different 100% from top to bottom doesn't automatically mean better. That's just changing something for the sake of changing it because reasons.
When people think of godzilla, they think of a upright standing dinosaur looking creature, not what g98 did. G98 stans truly don't know what godzilla is 😅
@@Kaiju-bm4ts EvErY GoDzIlLa DesIgN Is DiFfErENT.
I find it funny that the military did more damage to the city than Godzilla ever did.
20:57 T'TOPLESS! Thanks for keeping us abreast of that.
I loved this film growing up. And yes that is coming from someone who also grew up watching films like Jurassic Park, DragonHeart, and Godzilla 2000.
20:21 To this day, this part still cracks me up. There's just no way a blood sample from a giant mutated iguana could work on a human pregnancy test device.
I can agree, that 100% goofy, and its funny as shit.
Which actually makes the military’s skepticism completely justified.
I liked it. Watch it every now & then. I liked the comedy, and the French guy and photographer were fantastic
Lets go for 400 episodes,Brandon never ceases to amaze me,with every review i get more excited for the next and so on
Always loved this movie it was actually the first Godzilla movie I ever saw got me into the Godzilla franchise. Great movie in my opinion and still holds up as one of my favorite to this day.
Sorry to hear that
This movie is closer to Godzilla than the Super Mario movie is to the games
This was the movie that introduced me to Godzilla. I've been a fan ever since and I still love this movie.
I loved this movie when i was younger,and think it still holds up
Watching Godzilla 1998 was the turning point in my life from being a young optimistic kid to becoming the cynical jaded adult that I am today
Congratulations Brandon on 300 episodes. I remember the marketing for this film from Taco Bell and the tv commercials as a kid. Saw it like 3 years after it came out and I was not too impressed. Looking back at it now, it’s just a generic monster film. Although the destruction and effects are ok.
I loved this movie as a kid, and I love this movie to this day!!!
That’s fair
One of the reasons they used the French was because a few years before they did a couple of nuclear weapons tests (one of the last countries to do so) in 1996. Over the condemnation of all nuclear powers.
So it was an easy link to a real world current event.
Btw: congrats on making it to 300! You always put out great stuff! 🎉
"somebody left an Alien rip-off here" was a very, very, very good one 👍🏻😂🖤🏴☠️
I just got back from Minus One. Obviously the best. But this movie still holds a special place in my damn heart and I'll love it no matter what. It was the film as a child that introduced me to both godzilla films and kaiju films in general. And no matter what critiques one can have, gotta admit 2 things
1. They had some balls changing the design drastically. Not a perfect final design but still good to take risks even if they fail
2. The music is damn GOLD. That intro theme song was amazing
Congrats on 300. Love your stuff and look forward to more. Thanks!!!
Nice to see you hit 300 in this series 🎉
I have an interesting story to share regarding the Mayor Ebert character. 5 months before this movie came out, Roger Ebert, in his review of Scream 2, suggested that in the third film the killer should be a movie critic out to discredit horror movies so he'd never have to sit thru another one again. When I read this, I immediately had a mental image of Wes Craven not only running with this idea, but having the killer critic be a Roger Ebert lookalike as a tribute to the idea. The actor I pictured in the role was none other than Michael Lerner, who plays Mayor Ebert.
Congrats on 300 episodes! This was a great video! Keep up the great work!