CatalenaMara

I actually saw that one in the movies...it was written and produced by the same group, all family-related, who brought us the brilliant Indepenence Day, as well as the original Stargate film, back in '94...Godzilla had so many commerical tie-ins, and was slated to be THE movie of what, '99 or thereabouts? Roland Emmerich and Ute Emmerich...with their grasp of scintillating special effects and CGI's, their fate as moneymakers in filmdom seemed secured...

That is, until Godzilla crashed and badly burned...in the end, I believe the overall thought was that Godzilla was Miss Godzilla, and that she exhibited disturbing and bizarre, lethal, behavior due to the fact of her delicate condition, as well as her almost psychotic reaction to motherhood...

The babies were kind of cute, in a monstrous kind of way...remember the scene at Madiscon Sq. Garden?

Movies. The times of our lives, for sure...

But yes, she was a female, or possibly hermaphroditic in nature, like many other lower reptiles and amphibians...

>>>I actually saw that one in the movies...it was written and produced by the same group, all family-related, who brought us the brilliant Indepenence Day, as well as the original Stargate film, back in '94...

I hadn't made that connection. I gotta rewatch that Stargate movie; I really liked that.

>>>That is, until Godzilla crashed and badly burned...in the end, I believe the overall thought was that Godzilla was Miss Godzilla, and that she exhibited disturbing and bizarre, lethal, behavior due to the fact of her delicate condition, as well as her almost psychotic reaction to motherhood...

She seemed to be a pretty good mother - look at how she went and collected all those fish so her babies would have plenty to eat when they hatched. And the way she nudged at one of the baby bodies after the building burned down.

She didn't seem all that "monstrous" actually - most of the damage to buildings etc. seemed collateral - hitting things with her tail and stomping around on anything that got in her way versus deliberate destruction until she was attacked. It all made her seem more "animal" than "monster".

She was an incredibly impressive special effect...they really believed the movie would be a mega-hit, still "high" from their stunning success with ID, which if you can recall was an almost frighteningly successful film...it played something like five or six months in the movies, which is quite rare...but something about Godzilla just didn't catch fire, and it sank like a stone, unfortunately...

Personally I thought it was a pretty good story, and actually did have a tear in my eye during the scene were she prodded at one of her destroyed offspring...my assumption is that the screenwriters, one of whom had to be Ute Emmerich, was aiming for that special bond between a mother and her or its child or children, and that even monsters can be effective mothers...also your point about the difference or similarity between "monster" and "animal" was one very sharply drawn by Mathew Broderick's sympathetic scientist character...a lot of pathos went into the creation of the Godzilla character...remember the scenes where she went clomping through the streets of NYC, that vast tail weaving back and forth, and causing all manner of serious destruction?

Great film...think I'll hit Red Box this evening and see if they have a copy! :D

>>>She was an incredibly impressive special effect...

Yes, that special effect definitely held up.

>>>Something about Godzilla just didn't catch fire, and it sank like a stone, unfortunately... my assumption is that the screenwriters... was aiming for that special bond between a mother and her or its child or children, and that even monsters can be effective mothers...

I didn’t know it was a flop. Interesting to contemplate that making Godzilla into an animal, not a monster, and a female animal at that may well have led to its failure at the box office. Maybe it just wasn’t “macho” enough for the action movie audience. After all, she really didn’t go on a rampage until her babies were killed.

I got a kick out of the Madison Square Garden scene – all those huge lizard eggs all over the place.

Wasn’t there a “Son of Godzilla” movie ages ago? Where did that offspring come from? I know I saw one or two of them back in the day, but I can't remember anything about them, except Tokyo got destroyed.

>>>remember the scenes where she went clomping through the streets of NYC, that vast tail weaving back and forth, and causing all manner of serious destruction?

That tail reminded me – in a huge way – of a German Shepherd my family had as a kid. One sweep of her tail would knock most everything off the coffee table. And again that goes back to perhaps the reason the movie failed – most of the destruction she caused was inadvertent.

>>>Great film...think I'll hit Red Box this evening and see if they have a copy! :D

Let me know what you think...!

dude, that's just wrong in so many ways. they should have asked some *fans*, we'd have shot that plot down in a heartbeat and the movie woulda made *bank*.

as a writer it amazes me when fellow writers fuck up that badly. though really, a big budget doesna mean they hired a single writer wi' any *brain cells* to his name...

yeah, sympathetic characters, yadda yadda... the idiots who wrote the last couple seasons of SGA had all sorts of reasons why we should be just so impressed with them, too -- and the plots *stunk*. IMHO, if a plot has to be explained and justified to me as to why I should be impressed, there's usually a smelly reason...

jus' sayin'... XD did giggle at the lizard mpreg tho, gotta admit dat...

LOL, this is what can happen with reboots. I did like the entire concept of making Godzilla into an animal following its own instincts and agenda rather than a monster bent on destruction for the sake of destruction. I have no familiarity with the original movies so I have nothing to compare it with (though I know I saw at least a couple of them on the local "creature feature" when I was a kid). Since this reboot changed some basics I can see where fans of the originals would be pissed off. (They did always refer to Godzilla as "he", but - heh & LOL! - said he was "born pregnant" (like a tribble? *snerk*) and reproduced "asexually". The effects were great. The human plot events were the usual cliched stuff.

And I thought they did a great job with the "death scene", trapping the creature in the cabling and supports of the Brooklyn Bridge as he/she tried to cross to the other side, making him/her a sitting duck for the attack planes. It shoulda gone swimming instead.

I got a lot of filing/sorting/organizing done during this movie, so it definitely succeeded in its original purpose - keeping me entertained while I got some work done.

Boy, the last season of SGA - must have made a real impression on me because I can't remember a thing about it. I loved the earlier seasons.

Hm, I think it was a girl all along. In my headcanon, the males of the species are much smaller. I love the Godzilla films but my sympathy is always with the great clumsy lizard. XD

Hey, I like your idea. Why assume the giant creature is a male? You're right, there are certain species where the males are much smaller. I think I should watch a few of the older Godzilla films. What do you think of "Son of Godzilla"? I just read a review of it. And yes, my sympathy was with the big clumsy lizard. The way s/he kept whacking NYC skyscrapers inadvertantly with his/her tail showed s/he kept on the clumsy tradition. :-D

I've never seen Son of Godzilla but went to google and like the sound of both of them although the sappier parts of the plot would get in the way of the joy of destruction that was my favourite part of the films. The tail is glorious.