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| Steyn on Godzilla |
| 2014-05-19 |
| It might have been a more effective metaphor for the last Godzilla movie, released 16 summers ago in the year global warming stopped - or "paused". Do you remember that one? They began showing the trailer the previous summer (1997)— the usual brilliant two minutes, featuring one of the film's better vignettes: some old coot, fishing off the end of a rickety wharf, suddenly gets a nibble on his line; as he struggles to hold on to his rod, the sea swells and the jetty begins to vibrate; Japan's most famous movie monster is about to arrive in Manhattan: Godzilla. Size Does Matter. Coming in Summer 1998. Audiences whooped and cheered and roared their approval. The studio, having spent $140 million making the film, spent not much less on the campaign: absolutely everyone — according to the newspapers, magazines, radio hosts and TV shows — was dying to see what Godzilla looked like, but the producers were keeping him under wraps; there were stories about people close to the project trying to sneak out designs, and some fellows leaked models of the action toy tie-in which proved to be false. Kodak (remember them?) built their summer ad campaign around a guy trying to get souvenir snaps of the stompin' lizard. And then the film opened. And everyone who went on that opening weekend said actually, you know, it was kinda boring. By the second weekend, it was dead. Godzilla came ashore and fell flat on his face. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #4 so, I went and enjoyed it. It was almost empty in the theater, 9:45 showing on a Saturday night. 18 bucks a ticket for IMAX 3D in NJ. Reserved seating, had to bump two guys out of my seats. tequila made me pushy for a 5'2" over 50 gal! |
| Posted by: Nero Uneang8429 2014-05-19 16:42 |
| #3 I've seen those reviews to RJ. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-05-19 15:13 |
| #2 From what I hear about the movie it is more of a you can't fight nature and American Military are heroes type movie. I suspect the director got flack and has been inventing this global warming hogwash so that he isn't disinvited to dinner parties. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-05-19 14:33 |
| #1 I saw Godzilla on Saturday. Yeah, there was a mine and people were working there. I didn't get the fact that they were slaves. I didn't know that was legal in the Philippines. I thought they were people who had jobs so they could buy a home and feed their families. Silly me. I actually liked the movie. The special effects were brilliant and the plot was OK. I mean, you don't really expect that much of a plot for a Godzilla movie, do you? Damn. Just when I thought it was safe to go back to the movies. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-05-19 10:28 |