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Information

Year
1998
Runtime
139 min.
Director
Roland Emmerich
Genres
Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating *
5.4
Votes *
145,504
Checks
37,862
Favs
284
Dislikes
1,150
Favs/checks
0.8% (1:133)
Favs/dislikes
1:4
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    I broke my rule against watching Roland Emmerich movies with 1998's Godzilla, a film I do not believe I'd ever managed to get through before. And boy, it was worse than I remembered/imagined. Let's get the whole "that's not Godzilla" conversation out of the way first. I would not mind a redesign (this one is a mutated iguana) if it still acted like Godzilla, or played Godzilla's iconic role. It doesn't. It's the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, running after individual humans, and its babies are ineffectual velociraptors (I mean, they snap at people but never bite them because... no reason or impediment). Emmerich has no CLUE what Godzilla is about. For him, it's an excuse for his trademark destruction porn, and yet, the military destroys more landmarks than the monster ever does. Plot holes abound in this thing, and Godzilla uses it to get from point A to point B instead of sensical geography. He's spawned in the Pacific, but shows up in New York. He's Batman, able to double back behind helicopters and hide in plain sight and no one ever notices. In fact, they keep losing this monster that's as big as a building in New York's sewers and subway system. It's just dumb as rocks. Maybe worm expert Matthew Broderick can explain; he's got a good handle on crypto-lizard behavior too. There's really no caring for the character subplots, boring, cliché-laden, screaming cartoons, some very badly acted indeed (Vicki Lewis is an early offender). There's an extended revenge riff against Siskel and Ebert, likely for their having panned earlier films, and along with YET ANOTHER instance of throwing the French under the bus (like in ID4), it makes me think Emmerich is a vindictive director indeed. Tonally, this boring, over-long turd also gets low marks, with uplifting "wonderment" music over images that should inspire terror, and making Godzilla look pitiful in its death throes before everyone starts cheering its demise. It feels sadistic, but of course, there's no intent behind it. Emmerich has no control over his intent, beyond spectacle. And that brings us to the CG. Wow. 1998 was too early for a full-CG creature to rampage in New York during a rain storm. It's awful even for its time, with low integration of live action and visual effects. It's a long 130 minutes to get to the only good thing about this flick - Puff Daddy's "Come with Me" track. But I can find that on its own somewhere, right? 4 years 3 months ago
  2. Thewatcher's avatar

    Thewatcher

    There were a lot of fish in this movie and nothing else nor story nor logic. 12 years 12 months ago
  3. Caravellos's avatar

    Caravellos

    Being a huge Gojira fan, I'm disappointed. Really, it should have been named Jurassic Park: Manhattan. The movie could have held it's own since it had some pretty cool CGI scenes, but defacing such a popular franchise doomed it to fail. 11 years 6 months ago
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In 2 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #363 in Box Office Mojo's All Time Adjusted Box Office
    Box Office Mojo's All Time Adjusted Box Office's icon

    Box Office Mojo's All Ti…

    363
  2. This movie ranks #380 in Box Office Mojo's All Time Worldwide Box Office
    Box Office Mojo's All Time Worldwide Box Office's icon

    Box Office Mojo's All Ti…

    380
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