Godzilla (1998) Movie Review

SPEAKER_1 (0:03)

I don't even know what the hell it is.

SPEAKER_2 (0:05)

It's the Ropida alisaurus, some type of enormous reptile that we believe died out in the Cretaceous period.

Arnie Carvalho (0:10)

So where's it been hiding the last 60 million years?

SPEAKER_1 (0:13)

This animal is much too big to be some kind of lost dinosaur.

Jakob C. (0:16)

It was first sighted off of the French Polynesian Pacific. That area has been exposed to dozens of nuclear tests over the past 30 years.

SPEAKER_2 (0:24)

So hence the radiation.

SPEAKER_1 (0:26)

No, more than that. I believe that this is a mutated aberration, a hybrid caused by the fallout on these islands.

Brock Stewart (0:37)

Welcome to Now Playing Podcast Review of Godzilla.

Arnie Carvalho (0:41)

You know that bad feeling I get when something really bad is gonna happen?

Brock Stewart (0:44)

Yeah, I'm getting that feeling right now, man. A review chosen by Now Playing Podcast supporter, Tommy McGee.

Arnie Carvalho (0:51)

Thank you, I love you.

Brock Stewart (0:52)

Hosted by Brock.

Arnie Carvalho (0:54)

Where did you find this guy?

Brock Stewart (0:56)

Arnie.

SPEAKER_2 (0:56)

Well, you may be the wrong man for the job, but I think you're cute.

Brock Stewart (1:00)

And Stuart.

Jakob C. (1:01)

The threesome. That's excellent.

Brock Stewart (1:03)

This review contains detailed plot spoilers and mild language. Listener discretion is advised.

SPEAKER_1 (1:10)

Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Brock Stewart (1:11)

We hope you enjoy the show.

Jakob C. (1:13)

This is the moment when the big boys go to work, okay, honey?

Arnie Carvalho (1:20)

Today we're discussing Godzilla, starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Patillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, Harry Shearer, directed by Roland Emmerich. This is the Now Playing co-host who realizes nice gets you nothing in this town, Arnie.

Stuart A. (1:46)

And Stuart.

Brock Stewart (1:47)

And this is Brock, ready for some more Godzilla.

Arnie Carvalho (1:51)

Are you ready for this Godzilla? He's actually just called Zilla now, you know, because they said there's no god here. And so when this Godzilla has continued, and he has and we'll talk about it, he's just called Zilla.

Stuart A. (2:04)

Yeah, he's had several names. I remember Fraudzilla was also something that was said.

Arnie Carvalho (2:10)

I saw that for a while he was called Dino, Godzilla in name only. But I remember this movie coming out so well. They put a trailer out a full year ahead of time. I was in theaters for Men in Black in 1997 And what do I see? I see a T-Rex skeleton in a museum, obviously a reference to Jurassic Park. When Godzilla's big foot smashes it saying, Oh, you think Jurassic Park is cool.

Here comes Godzilla, size does matter.

Stuart A. (2:45)

Dick jokes already.

Really making me happy that we're in great creative hands. Now, they had been trying for a while. It should just be said Godzilla had kind of been adopted by America. Not only had he fought King Kong in the 60s, kind of like in the way that we saved money Python, all those Godzilla movies got imported to America and they were just making money throughout the 70s and 80s. Japan had stopped making Godzilla. They decided to get back on that train because they're like, these Americans, they love it. Steve Miner, we talked about him, director of Friday the 13th and Lake Placid. Back when Jaws 3D was happening, he wanted to make a Godzilla 3D movie back in the 80s, and for whatever reason, it didn't happen. But Godzilla was showing up in Dr. Pepper ads, and Arnie, you and I went and saw Godzilla 1985 in theaters. That was the first Japanese Godzilla film in 10 years.

Arnie Carvalho (3:38)

I think that was the first Godzilla film I might have ever seen as well. I think I knew of Godzilla, but I didn't watch Godzilla. My big knowledge of Godzilla is actually, I had a friend growing up who had this awesome Godzilla toy that was like 20 inches tall and had a little lever, and like lightning fire would come out of its mouth. That was a cool toy, and that toy I see nowadays goes for quite a bit of money. There's a lot of people who have nostalgia for that specific Godzilla toy, and I never owned one, but I loved that toy.

Brock Stewart (4:12)

I thought the hand shot off too, I think for some reason.

Arnie Carvalho (4:15)

That was a different one, but yeah.

Brock Stewart (4:17)

I also remember there was a Godzilla cartoon, late 70s, early 80s, that I saw on reruns. What I remember when Godzilla 85 came out, I didn't see it, but I remember that being, oh, they're still making Godzilla movies because I associated them with low-budget, Saturday afternoon movie fare growing up. So I didn't realize Godzilla movies were still being made. So when they announced this 1998 one, I got kind of excited, like, oh, wow, cool, like a brand new Godzilla movie. This is going to be good. It's going to be made by the people that Independence Day and they have all this new technology. We're going to see a great Godzilla movie. And I got a little bit excited about seeing the first Godzilla movie for me in a theater.