virtualurth DVDs, Music and Poetry

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Godzilla: Special Edition DVD

THE RATINGS
Movie: ** DVD: ****

Birth Of A King
Godzilla, the father of all Japanese monster movies, stomps onto the scene refreshed, reborn and badder than ever. Tomoyuki Tanaka, the father of Godzilla, would turn over in his grave if he saw Godzilla 1998. Oh Tanaka, how we have dishonored your post nuclear hero! In the early 1950’s, Tanaka, a cameraman-turned-producer working for Toho Studios in Japan, was desperate for an idea…

“I was up against a deadline when I first thought of Godzilla, and I made it up all at the last minute. At that time, Toho was collaborating with Indonesia to make a blockbuster film called ‘Beyond the Glory.’ This film was supposed to be Toho’s ‘eyeball’ (premiere release) for the year. Because soon-to-be stars Ryo Ikebe and Toshiko Yamaguchi couldn’t get a visa from the Indonesian government, the film was canceled. It was easy to say that the film was just canceled, but now I had to come up with something big enough to replace it. On the plane ride back to Tokyo, I was so desperate and I was sweating the whole time.”

The title of the film was “Gojira,” a name reportedly adopted from a tough looking crewmember at Toho studios. “Gojira” is a combination of “gorilla” and “kujira” (Japanese for whale). The film was released in the United States two years later with the title “GODZILLA, King of the Monsters.” Godzilla mania hit immediately, and Tanaka and Toho Studios went on to produce 21 more Godzilla films. Tanaka passed away as a result of a stroke on April 2, 1997 at the age of 86.

THE FILM
Unfortunately (for some of us, anyway), “plot doesn’t matter” in this new adaptation of Godzilla from director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin. The duo that brought you Stargate (1994) and Independence Day (1996) decided to make special effects the star of the new Godzilla. Emphasizing science-fiction spectacle over story, Godzilla was the collective effort of the high concept duo in collaboration with Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the writing team credited with Aladdin (1992), The Puppet Masters (1994), and Small Soldiers (1998).

The Devlin/Emmerich interpretation features a complete redesign of Godzilla, who is now portrayed as a large “Jurassic Park"-like lizard mutated after fallout from French nuclear tests in French Polynesia. A great deal of care and detail went into Godzilla’s new persona and character. The film immerses you into a kaleidoscope of studio and film footage of actual nuclear blasts, seamlessly visualizing the birth of the Devlin/Emmerich Godzilla. A blinding flash of white light fills the Eastern skies and thousands of miles away, the Pacific Ocean churns, engulfing a freighter then in another part of the globe, giant footsteps plow a path through miles of Panamanian forests, Tahitian villages, and Jamaican beaches.

Matthew Broderick portrays Dr. Nick Tatopoulos (also the name of the movie’s special effects design company, Patrick Tatopoulos Designs). Biologist Dr. Tatopoulos, a.k.a. “The Worm Guy,” is on assignment in the Ukraine for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission examining the impact of radiation on Chernobyl earthworms. As Tatopoulos grabs a handful of worms he is interrupted and immediately reassigned by Colonel Hicks (Kevin Dunn) of the U.S. military. Escorted by Colonel Hick’s military team, Nick is assigned to check out giant claw marks on the beached freighter, and is joined by paleontologists Elsie Chapman (Vicki Lewis) and Mendel Craven (Malcolm Danare). With a freighter covered in blood and giant-size footprints everywhere, Nick decides there’s “some sort of enormous reptile” wandering around. Well, read on to find out “the rest of the story.” Errrr, I mean, the DVD.

FINAL WORD
The Emmerich/Devlin Godzilla: Special Edition DVD goes a long way towards demonstrating that the DVD format has the “right stuff” to make a mediocre movie an enjoyable experience. Even with its shortcomings, Godzilla is a must-have for the DVD fan and a collector’s prize for the Godzilla lovers. It’s clearly a landmark special effects winner in my book and a worthy chapter in the Godzilla series. In particular, this film will be remembered for its valiant attempt to redefine the ubiquitous “King of the Monsters.”

HIGHLIGHTS