Size does matter.
French nuclear tests irradiate an iguana into a giant monster that viciously attacks freighter ships in the Pacific Ocean. A team of experts, including Niko Tatopoulos, conclude that the oversized reptile is the culprit. Before long, the giant lizard is loose in Manhattan as the US military races to destroy the monster before it reproduces and it's spawn takes over the world.
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Character
Classical in form, unpretentious, resolved and epic.
- classical in formformally daring
- unpretentiousprestige
- resolvedopen-ended
- intimateepic
- character-ledplot-driven
Who loves it, who doesn't
33 profiled raters. ; disliked most by The Provocateurs.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Does Jean Reno steal Godzilla from Matthew Broderick?”
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“Would a little humor have helped?”
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“Would Godzilla hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1998?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- John Chardon TMDB · Apr 20205/10
The hype was as big as the monster to start with! It felt like this take on Godzilla was advertised for 2 years in advance of the actual release, every time (it seemed) I went to the cinema I was awestruck by little teaser trailers, in fact the one of the old guy fishing and hooking Zilla is a personal favourite...SIZE DOES MATTER! Love it I do. Sadly as most of us now know, the film didn't meet fans and critics expectations at all, but was the film done down by the hype and an expectation of a masterpiece for the genre?. Well it didn't help that is for sure, but taking aside that problem, the film only glimpses at what might have been. It has many great points that seem to have been forgotten, so sadly we are all too aware of the film's failings on the makers behalf. The build up in the film is excellent, the makers mount the tension in steady strokes, doing what all classic monster movie makers do, they have you waiting with gripping expectation of the creature by a series of scenarios and inventive dialogue. The sound is incredible, making it an essential viewing for those who cherish home surround cinema, while some of the shots and destruction of New York are well worth the vi
Read the whole review on TMDB - tmdb27219454on TMDB · Aug 20195/10
***HERE THERE BE SPOILERS*** This version of Godzilla is a difficult one to give a simple overall rating. Honestly, if Hollywood had just made this into a generic monster movie, kind of the way they did with Cloverfield, it would have easily been an above average movie, possibly even breaking into 4 star territory. The acting is above average (including the must-have flavor of the month, Jean Reno), the F/X are excellent for 1998 and the plot actually makes sense. Nevertheless, the failure for this movie is that it was made by people not familiar with the franchise and/or what Godzilla means to his fanbase. Godzilla is to the people of Japan what Batman and Superman are to Americans, what Dr. Who and James Bond are to the British and what Shaft and the Black Panther are to the Black Community. The demotion of Godzilla to that of nothing more than an over-sized animal working wholly upon instinct instead of the more humanistic level of intelligence that we in the fandom have come to know and expect was a slap in the face. Furthermore, the final scene where Godzilla is killed (a blasphemy only seen two other times in his 60 year history (Gojira (1954) and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (199
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Aug 20236/10
I found this to be quite a fun take on the Godzilla fable. Matthew Broderick as "the worm guy" and Jean Reno as the French Secret agent deliver quite watchable performances as they investigate some radioactive shipping incidents and some really big footprints. The special effects are decent enough too and help carry this admittedly over-long little movie. Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin are quite good at churning out these adventure films - never great, but usually they move along nicely and keep you entertained and the last half hour of this is actually quite fun to watch and on a big screen if you get the chance.
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Cast
- Matthew BroderickDr. Niko Tatopoulos
- Jean RenoPhilippe Roaché
- Maria PitilloAudrey Timmonds
- Hank AzariaVictor 'Animal' Palotti
- Kevin DunnColonel Hicks
- Michael LernerMayor Ebert
- Harry ShearerCharles Caiman
- Arabella FieldLucy Palotti
- Vicki LewisDr. Elsie Chapman
- Doug SavantSergeant O'Neal
Crew
- Roland EmmerichDirector
- Roland EmmerichScreenplay
- Dean DevlinScreenplay
- Ueli SteigerDirector of Photography
- David ArnoldOriginal Music Composer
- Michael LloydOriginal Music Composer
- Peter AmundsonEditor
- David SiegelEditor
- Dean DevlinProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
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Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
