Godzilla (1998 film)

"[Every time somebody mispronounces his last name] It's "Tatopoulos!""

"That's a lot of fish."

"[after Godzilla discovers one of his dead offspring] He looks angry."

"[After the first fight between Godzilla and the military] What the hell's the matter with you people? You caused more damage than that goddamn thing did!"

"Running would be a good idea."

"Probably the most difficult aspect for Westerners to understand is that at heart Godzilla is considered a force of nature by Japanese and not just an oversized radioactive lizard. Lizards can be killed; but nature can only be dealt with. It was one of the reasons the Roland Emmerich-directed Godzilla [1998] was such a failure with the fans. Like a lot of Westerners, he just didn’t get it."

"[Americans] seem unable to accept a creature that cannot be put down by their arms."

"Amusingly in 1954, Toho made a giant lizard and called it a dinosaur. In 1998, Tristar re-designed Godzilla as a dinosaur, but called it a lizard. Of course that wasn’t the only thing Tristar did wrong. They tried to ruin the monster completely. They took away the only thing that worked in decades of sequels, the look of the monster itself. Then they took away everything that made Godzilla appealing to Kaiju fans, then they tied it down and shot it. Such disrespect. If you’re going to make a movie that already has a fan-base, and they are the ones who will decide whether your film will pay off, respect those fans and the story they’re paying to see."

"Throughout Godzilla, it feels as though Emmerich is embarrassed of his subject matter; the dumb jokes and one-liners ("We need bigger guns," "That's a lot of fish," and so on) are like cynical, condescending winks to the audience. It's also obvious he wants to avoid reminders of the old Japanese films - not only is the creature itself almost totally different, but scenes that the audience expects to see in a picture called Godzilla are missing. Where is Godzilla smashing buildings and incinerating entire city blocks? The fierce battles between Godzilla and the army? The monster rearing back and bellowing his high-pitched roar? The are a few Godzilla-like moments in the affair - for instance, when Godzilla hugs a skyscraper and wails into the night; why doesn't he push the edifice to the ground? Wasn't the point of making a mega-budget Godzilla the chance to relive these classical thrills with super-enhanced visual effects? Sure, a gigantic reptile jogging down Fifth Avenue is impressive, but the new Godzilla was just a way for Sony to make its own upsized, dumbed-down Jurassic Park without getting sued by Steven Spielberg. The experience leaves one wondering why they bothered, for the awe of seeing CGI dinosaurs for the first time is gone, and there's little else that's new. Emmerich tries vainly to create an atmosphere of dread by dowsing the movie with rain, but gloomy skies alone do not equal subtext. The original Godzilla was a harbinger of doom, but this one is a gutless wonder whose only desire is to eat fish and give New York the ultimate pest problem: a clutch of Baby Godzilla eggs."

"...it's not Godzilla, it doesn't have his spirit."

"When I heard that an American motion picture studio was going to produce a Godzilla film, I said, "Of course!""

"Size Does Matter"

"1998. The year of GODZILLA!"

"Something Big Is Happening"

"The city that never sleeps just got a wake-up call."

"Matthew Broderick — Nick"

"Jean Reno — Philippe"

"Maria Pitillo — Audrey"

"Hank Azaria — Animal"

"Kevin Dunn — Colonel Hicks"

"Michael Lerner — Mayor Ebert"

"Harry Shearer — Mr. Caiman"

"Arabella Field — Lucy"

"Vicki Lewis — Elsie"

"Doug Savant — Sergeant O'Neal"

"Malcolm Danare — Dr. Craven"

"Nancy Cartwright — Caiman's Secretary"

"Kurt Carley — Godzilla Mo-Cap Service"

"Frank Welker — Voice of Godzilla"