TALKBACK: Godzilla (1998)

[MouthForWar]

The Rifftrax guys went over their goal and they got the rights to do this. It'll be in August. Since the campaign is still going on, if they get to a new goal, they will make Anaconda their next live riff.

Man, I am SO going to this.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

So uh... what's with this small wave of people recently coming out of the wood work trying to absolve this piece of crap into some kind of modern classic?

[GFan]

So uh... what's with this small wave of people recently coming out of the wood work trying to absolve this piece of crap into some kind of modern classic?

Stockholm syndrome?

[Benjamin Haines]

So uh... what's with this small wave of people recently coming out of the wood work trying to absolve this piece of crap into some kind of modern classic?

Apparently the newest take on Godzilla let them down in ways GINO left them satisfied.

GINO was made for people who don't like Godzilla, by people who don't like Godzilla.

[jellydonut25]

The crappiness of this movie has less to do with its treatment of Godzilla than with it just being a terrible film through and through.

[Jorzilla]

So uh... what's with this small wave of people recently coming out of the wood work trying to absolve this piece of crap into some kind of modern classic?

Are you referring to fans doing this, or general social media? Most fans that like this film usually try to qualify their opinion by saying, "If it hadn't been titled Godzilla it would have been better received."

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

So uh... what's with this small wave of people recently coming out of the wood work trying to absolve this piece of crap into some kind of modern classic?

Are you referring to fans doing this, or general social media? Most fans that like this film usually try to qualify their opinion by saying, "If it hadn't been titled Godzilla it would have been better received."

I'm talking both, and it's going beyond "If It Hadn't Been Titled Godzilla" it's more like "This Movie Is No Where Near As Bad As It Is You Guys Have To Get Over It" and "This Is Better Than The Majority Of Older Godzilla Movies" and "We Forgive You Rolan Emmerich, This New Movie Sucked"

[MekaGojira3k]

I've heard bits of this here and there. The movie and that nonsense about it being better than G2014 is dumb.

[Legion]

"This Is Better Than The Majority Of Older Godzilla Movies"

I saw someone saying this on the Sci-Fi Japan FB group a couple days ago. But to be fair, he was just a despicable troll who was trying to piss people off.

[jellydonut25]

The "this is nowhere near as bad as people say" group is the one that for some reason bugs me most.

The other groups are just flat-out WRONG and so it's easier to dismiss them...

The "it's not that bad" people are the ones who can be the most infuriating. They come at you with "You just hate it because it's called Godzilla" and "Get over it already" stuff and it's like...this movie SUCKS for reasons that go WAY beyond "Godzilla"

[klen7]

i assume most comments like that are either trolling or are from people young enough not to know better

[XvGojira]

I like the movie, but I know it's bad. Agree with the argument that it's a pretty good movie until after Godzilla's first landfall. After that it's just pure crap. The only character that I care about in Jean Reno, but it's just because he's Jean Reno. Nothing is taken seriously in the movie, or at least seriously enough to make it seem dramatic, and every one is comic relief which just gets irritating really quick.

The monster itself though, I like. The design in interesting, and I do consider it a Godzilla variant. If the creature acted more like the Godzilla we all know and love (nuke breath, fights the military, and only taken out by super science) I think this version of the character would have been more warmly welcomed into the fandom. Although one of the faults of this design, or the implementation of it, is that it is not expressive. The Showa series was expressive from the actor's movements in the suit, the Heisei from the animatronics in the head. This design can open its mouth, and blink its eyes. It's very much a lizard face, no emotive ability.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

"This Is Better Than The Majority Of Older Godzilla Movies"

I saw someone saying this on the Sci-Fi Japan FB group a couple days ago. But to be fair, he was just a despicable troll who was trying to piss people off.

I see it's moved past blogging and straight into our backyard ._. I sincerely hope he is purged with the wrath of 100 Shaw Bros movies.

The argument that annoys me is "it's fine if it wasn't a Godzilla movie", except IT IS supposed to be a Godzilla movie. It was supposed to be a brand new and improved Godzilla movie, promising Godzilla. Instead it's this constantly self referencing movie (which can be done perfectly if written right), that turns the promised Godzilla into easy cannon fodder.

[jellydonut25]

It's also not good even if it isn't a Godzilla movie. It's a complete piece of crap, with or without the name.

[Mac]

At this point, I think this movie is interesting to watch as a historical curiosity. It's an excessive 90s movie, and the glee at which the military erroneously blows up New York's landmarks is pretty much unseen now in modern blockbusters post-9/11.

I think I get more entertainment out of it than Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla.

[DannyBeane]

Ok I can get kids growing up with GINO being their favorite movie because its 16 years old and nostalgia and all that. I also get the people trying to be contrarian because apparently having unpopular opinions makes you cool and edgy. But what drives me nuts is people saying GINO was a much better film than a lot of the showa films which I've been seeing a lot on the facebook Godzilla groups. That's just ignorant imo. Its like spitting on the Adam West Batman and saying Batman and Robin is the better film. While those movies are considered cheesy now, they were really popular back then where as GINO almost killed the franchise.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

It's not just that. A lot of these older Showa era productions were labors of love, and one can see that during the production. Even Jun Fukuda, who preferred to make action cinema than Godzilla movies, still could put together a better effort in his productions than what was seen in Godzilla 98, a movie that was practically billed as BETTER THAN OLD "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!".

Very cynical production.

[tbeasley]

Well this should be interesting -
http://makingofgodzilla.wordpress.com/

From the guy who runs this -
http://monsterlegacy.wordpress.com/

[daikaijusaurus]

I've heard bits of this here and there. The movie and that nonsense about it being better than G2014 is dumb.

Unbelievably, I've heard people say that they liked GINO waaaaay better than Legendary Godzilla. Saying something like "It was more fun, the new one is just boring!" Ugh!

[Gman2887]

There are lots of questions that don’t bear very much analysis I think — after all, it’s only a Godzilla film!”

Kind of sums the whole production up.

[Benjamin Haines]

I've heard bits of this here and there. The movie and that nonsense about it being better than G2014 is dumb.

Unbelievably, I've heard people say that they liked GINO waaaaay better than Legendary Godzilla. Saying something like "It was more fun, the new one is just boring!" Ugh!

But of course: "Godzilla" has more screentime in the 1998 film, which makes it better.

[Henry88]

RiffTrax Live: GODZILLA is in 10 days!

Thanks to you for voting, and our awesomely generous Kickstarter backers, RiffTrax Live: Godzilla is happening in just 10 days. Just like Matthew Broderick’s character Niko Tatopoulos, we can hardly believe it!

RiffTrax Live: Godzilla will be in over 650 theaters across the U.S. and Canada, LIVE on Thursday August 14th at 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central and tape-delayed to 7pm MT / 8pm Pacific. Get to the theater 30 minutes early to experience our hilarious pre-show “trivia”!

Attendees will also get to be part of our world premiere of the new RiffTrax theme song, written and performed by Jonathan Coulton in a video animated by Harry Patridge. You won’t want to miss it!

Find a theater and buy tickets to the show here!
http://bit.ly/RiffZilla

Canadian tickets available through Cineplex.
http://cineplex.com/Movie/rifftrax-live-godzilla

Can’t make it to the Thursday live event? No problem! There’s a special one-time rebroadcast the following Tuesday, August 19th at 7:30pm local time (trivia starts at 7pm). Get tickets to the rebroadcast show here!
http://riff.me/Zilla2nd

We could not have made any of this possible without you, and we’re deeply grateful to you all. We can’t wait to see you at the live show on August 14th!

Sincerely,

Mike, Kevin and Bill

[Rody]

...So who all went to see it last night? It was the first Rifftrax Live I have seen, and I had a blast.

It was actually a little surreal at first, seeing GODZILLA on the big screen again after 16 years. I honestly do enjoy the buildup to Godzilla's reveal, and his initial attack on NYC - but man, this movie is tedious otherwise.

[MouthForWar]

Rifftrax was a blast. The riffs were great. The movie is still awful. I actually think its gotten WORSE since it hasn't aged well whatsoever.

[lhb412]

It is quite a puzzler that the film seems to think the audience would be more interested in Nick's theory being vindicated and Audrey becoming a reporter than, you know, giant monster.

It's Matthew Broderick's terrifying theme music!