Godzilla (1998)

Hey, Do You Remember...? - 27th Letter Productions

Back in 1998, hearing that the team responsible for Independence Day was now mounting a big budget American remake of Godzilla was actually pretty exciting. There was a great teaser trailer, a chart-topping soundtrack album, and a genuine curiosity about this top secret new creature design they were keeping under wraps.

And then we saw it.

To say Godzilla was a disappointment would be a massive understatement. Fans quickly dubbed this new iteration G.I.N.O. (Godzilla In Name Only) and poor word of mouth contributed to a much lower than expected box office take.

All these years later, we had to find out if it was as bad as we remembered and whether or not its reputation was deserved. We also track the evolution of this project and how it transformed from a more faithful adaptation of the Japanese films into... this.

Topics include: why it took so long for an American version to get the green light, the original creative team that was involved and how their version of the movie fell apart, the reason Godzilla's rights holders signed off on such a revisionist take on the material, how an accelerated production schedule left them no time to revise their script or hold test screenings, the traps most Godzilla movies tend to fall into, and much more!

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