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Reptilicus

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Reptilicus is the mutual title of two monster films about a giant, prehistoric reptile . A pair of Danish-American co-productions produced by Cinemagic and Saga Studio , the Danish-language Reptilicus was directed by Poul Bang and released by Saga in Denmark in 1961, while the English-language Reptilicus was directed and co-written by Sidney Pink and released by American International Pictures in the United States in 1962. They've frequently been incorrectly described as two release-versions of the same film.

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114-412: "In every film reference book published over the past four decades, the Danish-American monster-movie Reptilicus is listed as one film, and one film only. However, in spite of sharing an identical plot, identical sets and locations, a nearly identical cast and crew, as well as overlapping use of some shots, Reptilicus is in fact two distinct films, shot in separate languages by two directors, very much in

228-455: A box office disappointment . Planned sequels were cancelled, but an animated series was produced instead. TriStar let their remake/sequel rights expire on May 20, 2003. In 2004, Toho began trademarking new iterations of TriStar's Godzilla as " Zilla ", with only the incarnations from the 1998 film and animated show retaining the Godzilla copyright/trademark. An iguana nest is exposed to

342-442: A cult following in its home country. Film critic Glenn Erickson described the monster as "a wiggly marionette that moved like something from Kukla, Fran and Ollie ," that the film's "dubbing was terrible and the optical effects so distractingly bad that I couldn't help but roll my eyes," that the film includes "a jaw-droppingly dreadful musical number, in which bumbling aquarium janitor Mikkelsen / Petersen (Dirch Passer) romps in

456-470: A teaser trailer , budgeted at $ 600,000, that featured Godzilla's foot crushing the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex at a museum. The trailer was attached to screenings of Men in Black and received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from audiences. Afterwards, select theaters began advertising that the trailer would be featured before Men in Black . A new trailer later premiered on November 7, 1997, with

570-475: A 2-foot tall maquette for a meeting with Toho. Tatopoulos and Emmerich attended the meeting to pitch their Godzilla to then Toho chairman Isao Matsuoka, Godzilla film producer Shogo Tomiyama , and Godzilla special effects director Koichi Kawakita . They unveiled Tatopoulos' artwork and maquette and the Toho trio remained silent for a few minutes, Emmerich recalled, "They were speechless, they stared at it, and there

684-660: A 24th-scale Godzilla suit donned by stuntman Kurt Carley. The filmmakers favored CG over practical effects and as a result, the final film features 400 digital shots, 185 of which feature Godzilla, and only two dozen practical effects used in the final film. Principal photography began on May 1, 1997 and wrapped on September 26, 1997. Filming took place in New York City and moved to Los Angeles in June. Scenes in New York were filmed in 13 days; tropical scenes were filmed in

798-401: A Godzilla that was very close to the original, but it was not right because today we wouldn't do it like that." Patrick Tatopoulos was hired by Emmerich to design Godzilla. According to Tatopoulos, the only specific instructions Emmerich gave him was that it should be able to run incredibly fast. Godzilla, originally conceived as a robust, erect-standing, plantigrade reptilian sea monster,

912-432: A Memorial Day weekend release and the studio's insistence on not test-screening the film. However, he defended the film as better than critics gave it credit for, as it was financially successful, and out of all the films he directed, it was the one which parents told him their children enjoyed the most. Emmerich also conceded that he never took the Toho films seriously, stating, "I was never a big Godzilla fan, they were just

1026-461: A balance in anthropomorphizing Godzilla, not wanting to stray from Godzilla's humanistic personality but not humanize him entirely. The duo approached Godzilla as something that audiences would fear yet root for. Elliott found the "key" to the story after a friend, who was also a Godzilla fan, expressed that he found Godzilla not to be a "good guy", but a territorial beast, Elliott stated, "And that, to me, meant that you could actually present Godzilla on

1140-476: A blood sample, and by performing a pregnancy test, discovers the creature reproduces asexually and is collecting food for its offspring. Nick also meets up with his ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds, a young aspiring news reporter. While she visits him, she uncovers a classified tape in his provisional military tent concerning the monster's origins and turns it over to the media. She hopes to have her report put on TV to launch her career, but her boss, Charles Caiman, uses

1254-450: A buck fifty, laughably earnest dialogue, wince-inducing comic relief from a dim-witted character — if ever a movie was made that deserved to be showcased on the cult series Mystery Science Theater 3000 it's this one". Kip Doto's book Reptilicus: The Screenplay (1999) was the first publication to attempt a listing of the main differences between Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus and Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus . This

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1368-478: A combined worldwide total of $ 379,014,294 (equivalent to $ 633 million adjusted for ticket inflation in 2013). For 1998 as a whole, the film was the ninth highest-grossing film domestically and the third highest-grossing film worldwide . Despite performing below expectations domestically, Godzilla was a profitable worldwide success, grossing nearly three times its budget. Sony stated that retail sales of consumer products generated $ 400 million; not only from

1482-456: A film, not consider it. But my brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome." Ebert also pointed out in his review that the characters Mayor Ebert and his assistant Gene were Devlin and Emmerich's jabs at his and Gene Siskel 's negative reviews of Stargate and Independence Day . Gene Siskel particularly singled out this aspect, writing "why place us in the movie if you aren't going to have us be eaten or squashed by

1596-662: A fresh new direction." Tatopoulos took inspiration from the design of Shere Khan used in Disney's version of The Jungle Book in terms of Godzilla's chin, stating, "One of the inspirations was a character I loved as a kid, the tiger in Jungle Book, Shere Khan. He had this great chin thing and I always loved it; he looked scary, evil but you respected him. I thought, let's try to give him a chin and I felt it still looked realistic but he had this different thing that you hadn't seen before." Tatopoulos created four concept art pieces and

1710-449: A giant monster who migrates to New York City to nest its young. In October 1992, TriStar announced plans to produce a trilogy of Godzilla films. In May 1993, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were hired to write the script. In July 1994, Jan de Bont was announced as the director but left the project that December due to budget disputes. Emmerich was hired in May 1996 to direct and co-write

1824-424: A kind of 'badge' of creative excitement and had no intention of allowing them their freedom." While Macpherson called Elliott and Rossio's original script "terrific," he took issue with several of its ideas. He felt that the script discarded the "Japanese element of post-war nuclear politics" from the Toho films, leaving Godzilla as a threat to a single country rather than the world, Macpherson added, "That neglected

1938-472: A live-action Mr. Magoo film but the discussions led to the availability of the rights to Godzilla. Interested, Woods and Fried proposed the idea to Columbia Pictures , but were initially rejected. Woods stated, "We pitched the idea to Columbia and they passed outright. Their response was they felt it had the potential for camp ". The two also tried to pitch the idea to TriStar Pictures but were also shot down, Fried stated, "TriStar did originally pass on

2052-468: A lizard.' That was supposed to tell everybody I can't do this movie. [Godzilla owner Toho] said, 'Oh, we'll call this the new Godzilla, the Hollywood Godzilla. Then, we can still do our fat Godzilla.' I said, 'Shit!'" – Emmerich reflecting on the film in 2022. Emmerich later admitted regretting the film's production, particularly due to the rushed shooting schedule that was required for

2166-399: A monster movie and a story like that. We forgot everything about the original Godzilla right there." Emmerich decided to completely reinvent Godzilla's design because he thought the original Toho design "didn't make sense". Emmerich also discarded the previous design approved by Jan de Bont, stating, "I saw the creature that they designed for [TriStar's first attempt]. Jan De Bont created

2280-463: A new script with producer Dean Devlin . Principal photography began in May 1997 and ended in September 1997. Godzilla was theatrically released on May 20, 1998, to negative reviews and grossed $ 379 million worldwide against a production budget between $ 130–150 million and marketing costs of $ 80 million, becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1998 . Despite turning a profit, it was considered

2394-493: A park with a bunch of barely-interested kids, singing a horrible song about a loveable monster," and that the film "comes in dead last in the list of movies where giant monsters attack cities." Describing the film as a "hilarious sci-fi mess," critic Hans Wollstein further noted in AllMovie that it "contains filmdom's perhaps least convincing monster and some of the worst performances imaginable," that "Ottosen's wooden performance

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2508-525: A possible four stars, calling it "a fair-to-poor monster film". Writing in DVD Talk about Scream Factory's Blu-ray release, Kurt Dahlke reported that " Reptilicus seems aimed squarely at the monster kids in the audience," that no viewers "will concern themselves with the plot," and that "Special Effects are not this movie's strong point, but they are its selling point," with a monster that "often slithers about slowly, like an arthritic hand-puppet." Reviewing

2622-401: A profit percentage from international ticket sales and merchandising, usage rights to some of the monsters from the first 15 Godzilla films, and allow Toho to continue producing domestic Godzilla films while TriStar developed their film. Subsequently, Toho sent Sony a document of rules on how to treat Godzilla. Robert Fried stated, "They even sent me a four-page, single-spaced memo describing

2736-788: A shot in English, after which Bang would direct and film the same shot in Danish. The only difference in the cast of the two films is UNESCO representative Connie Miller, played by Danish actress Bodil Miller in Bang's Danish-language film and, because the latter could not speak English, by German actress Marla Behrens in Pink's English-language film. Filming took place in several locations in Denmark , including Sjælland (especially Copenhagen ) and Jylland . The Danish-language film directed by Poul Bang

2850-456: A special assignment. Meanwhile, in Tahiti , a mysterious Frenchman questions the traumatized survivor over what he witnessed, who repeatedly replies "Gojira" . Nick is sent to Panama and Jamaica to study a trail of wreckage leading to another cannery ship with massive claw marks on it. Nick identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses

2964-468: A story that satisfied fans by adapting Godzilla's characterization from the first few Toho films, Elliott stated, "In one movie it does what the first three Toho films did – it takes him from being a horrendous threat to being defender of the Earth." Elliott and Rossio submitted their first draft on November 10, 1993. Woods and Fried were satisfied with the script, with Fried praising it for being "respectful of

3078-442: A suit. Tatopoulos thought the designs that Ricardo Delgado, Crash McCreery and Joey Orosco provided for Jan de Bont took the design in a wrong approach, stating, "What they did which was a mistake in my mind was, rather than going in a new direction they tried to alter and make the old one better. And when you do that, first of all I think it's very disrespectful. It's more disrespectful for me to alter something existing than to take

3192-429: A three and half-page story outline that secured their employment. Rossio believes that they were offered the project due to their experience in writing "franchise-type titles." Robert Fried expressed support for Elliott and Rossio, praising them as "talented sci-fi buffs" and stating, "We've put a lot of time, thought and finance into the screenplay." Toho's character restrictions helped inspire Elliott and Rossio in finding

3306-455: A way to make their Godzilla a threat to mankind, Emmerich and Devlin also gave their Godzilla the ability to lay hundreds of eggs (via parthenogenesis) and rapidly spawn offspring that could spawn offspring of their own and quickly overrun the planet. The first draft was submitted to Sony on December 19, 1996, then-President of Sony Pictures John Calley forwarded the script to Bob Levin of marketing to brainstorm marketing ideas. TriStar green-lit

3420-475: A wise-cracking news cameraman and superficial reporter; Vicki Lewis of NewsRadio as a lusty scientist. Shall I continue?" Owen Gleiberman writing for Entertainment Weekly thought "There's no resonance to the new Godzilla , and no built-in cheese value, either. For a while, the filmmakers honor the sentimental paradox that seeped into the later Godzilla films: that this primitive destroyer, like King Kong , doesn't actually mean any harm." He opined that

3534-420: Is all about." Emmerich and Devlin also decided to treat their Godzilla more animal-like than monstrous, Tatopoulos stated, "We were creating an animal. We weren't creating a monster." Emmerich and Devlin also decided to give their Godzilla the ability to burrow underground, Devlin stated, "We discovered that certain kinds of lizards can burrow, so we decided to give him that capability." Chameleon-like skin change

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3648-528: Is also the 23rd film in the franchise and the first Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. The film stars Matthew Broderick , Jean Reno , Maria Pitillo , Hank Azaria , Kevin Dunn , Michael Lerner , and Harry Shearer . The film is dedicated to Tomoyuki Tanaka , the co-creator and producer of various Godzilla films, who died in April 1997. In the film, authorities investigate and battle

3762-497: Is second only to that of Bodil Miller, a former Universal starlet who appears here for no apparent reason," and "a low point of the film is pop star Birthe Wilke's rendition of a ditty, 'Tivoli Nights', to a visibly dazed audience." Released in 1962, almost two years later than Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus , Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus received mostly negative reviews from American critics. On Rotten Tomatoes ,

3876-567: Is this: Are the awe-inspiring creature effects and roaring battle scenes impressive enough to make you forget the stupid story, inaccurate science and basic implausibility?" Thoughtfully disillusioned, he wrote, "The cut-rate cast seems to have been plucked from the pages of TV Guide . There's Doug Savant from Melrose Place as O'Neal, a scaredy-cat military man who looks like Sgt. Rock and acts like Barney Fife . There's Maria Pitillo ( House Rules ) as Nick's soporific love interest, Audrey; The Simpsons ' Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer as

3990-421: Is we did not commit to anthropomorphizing Godzilla – meaning we did not decide if he was a heroic character, or a villainous character. We made the intellectual decision to have him be neither and just simply an animal trying to survive." Devlin said the decision was a "big mistake" and revealed the second flaw of the film was "...deciding to exposit the characters' background in the middle of the film rather than in

4104-575: The $ 74.9 million Memorial Day weekend record previously set by Mission: Impossible in 1996, but fell below the $ 90 million record set by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997. The film's revenue dropped by 59% in its second week of release, earning $ 18,020,444. For that particular weekend, the film remained in first place as the romantic drama Hope Floats overtook Deep Impact for second place with $ 14,210,464 in box office business. During its final week in North America,

4218-530: The Blu-ray format by Scream Factory as a double feature with the 1977 film Tentacles . In July 2024, it was released as 4K Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome , with Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus included among several bonus-features in this three-disc set. Upon its theatrical release in 1961, Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus received negative reviews by the Danish film critics. However, as Denmark's only giant monster film, it has since achieved

4332-626: The Danish Navy's depth charges, beginning to move on its own, raising the possibility that it is starting to regenerate into a new Reptilicus. Production of the two films started in July 1960. They were shot simultaneously, one directed by Danish director Poul Bang and filmed in Danish language, the other directed by American producer-director Sidney Pink and filmed in English language with an almost identical cast. Pink and Bang took turns throughout each shooting day, so that Pink would direct and film

4446-536: The Hawaiian Islands . The United States Marine Corps participated in the filming of the movie. An F-18 Marine Reserve pilot, Col. Dwight Schmidt, actually piloted the plane that "fired" the missiles that killed Godzilla. The soundtrack, featuring alternative rock music, was released on May 19, 1998, by Epic Records . It was a success on the music charts, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and

4560-488: The 1998 film but from the animated series and the Heisei Godzilla films that Sony acquired at the time. Godzilla received generally negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 20% based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 4.50/10. Its critical consensus states, "Without compelling characters or heart, Godzilla stomps on everything that made

4674-532: The 21-inch tall "Ultimate Godzilla". However, poor merchandise sales for the film led to a cancellation of a toyline based on the animated series. Robert Fried had estimated that $ 80 million was spent on marketing worldwide. On November 3, 1998, the film was released on VHS and DVD in the United States. Special features for the DVD include: photo galleries, visual effects and special FX supervisor commentaries,

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4788-405: The Danish countryside to the panic-stricken streets of Copenhagen (including one of its famous landmarks, Langebro Bridge). The monster is finally rendered unconscious by a sedative developed by ingenious scientists and shot into its mouth from a bazooka fired by General Grayson. However, the film is left open-ended. A final shot shows one of Reptilicus' legs, which had been blown off earlier by

4902-552: The Danish miniatures, saying that "Danish miniature work has surpassed that of Japan, up to generally acknowledged to be the finest in the world. Facilities in Denmark, by Hollywood standards, are notably lacking; but fine craftsmen who put everything together by hand are not concerned with the time it takes, (and) are excellent". Pink also said "the Scandinavian countries have never truly been exploited by Hollywood filmmakers, so

5016-530: The Swedish company Studio S released Poul Bang's Reptilicus on a DVD that as a bonus feature included Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus (both films in incorrect 4:3-ratio). Sidney Pink's English-language Reptilicus was released on VHS in 1994 by Orion Home Video , and on DVD on April 1, 2003, by MGM Home Entertainment under the Midnite Movies banner. In June 2015, it was released in

5130-517: The arena. Audrey and Nick reconcile, before the adult Godzilla, having survived, emerges from the Garden's ruins. Enraged by the deaths of its brood, it takes its rage out on the four, chasing them across Manhattan in a taxi. They manage to trap Godzilla within the suspension cables of the Brooklyn Bridge , allowing the returning Air Force to strike it down with missiles. Godzilla collapses to

5244-448: The audience would be fatigued and ready for something new – and the new thing wasn't delivered." Macpherson attempted to resolve that issue while retaining the highlights of Elliott and Rossio's script. In November 2018, an unofficial digital graphic novel adaptation of Elliott and Rossio's unproduced Godzilla script was released online. Entitled Godzilla '94 , the graphic novel features artwork by Todd Tennant, who worked with Rossio on

5358-747: The character's atomic origin and replaced it with one wherein Godzilla is an artificial creation constructed by Atlantians to defend humanity against a shape-shifting extraterrestrial monster called "The Gryphon". Stan Winston and his company were employed to do the effects for the film. Winston crafted sculptures of Godzilla and The Gryphon. De Bont later left the project in December 1994 after TriStar refused to approve his budget of $ 100–120 million. He would later go on to direct Twister and Speed 2: Cruise Control . Clive Barker and Tim Burton were also in talks to potentially direct. In May 1993, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were hired to write

5472-444: The construction of underground mine operations and create ways to transport the extracted minerals to processing plants. Godzilla (1998 film) Godzilla is a 1998 American monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich . Produced by TriStar Pictures , Centropolis Entertainment , Fried Films , and Independent Pictures, and distributed by TriStar, it is a reboot of Toho Co., Ltd. 's Godzilla franchise . It

5586-470: The earth through mining . There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face ; cutting, blasting, or otherwise working and removing the rock. In a broader sense, a "miner" is anyone working within a mine, not just a worker at the rock face. Renowned as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world - and for good reason. Cave-ins , explosions , toxic air , and extreme temperatures are some of

5700-621: The fallout of a military nuclear test in French Polynesia . In the South Pacific Ocean, a Japanese cannery vessel is suddenly attacked by a giant creature, with only one fisherman surviving. Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but is interrupted by an official from the U.S. State Department who has come to pick him up for

5814-422: The film "is so clumsily structured it feels as if it's two different movies stuck together with an absurd stomping finale glued onto the end. The only question worth asking about this $ 120 million wad of popcorn is a commercial one. How much further will the dumbing down of the event movie have to go before the audience stops buying tickets?" Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post queried, "The question

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5928-482: The film contained "some clever and exciting sequences", but ultimately came to the conclusion that, "It says much about today's blockbuster filmmakers that they could spend so much money on Godzilla and still fail to do justice to something that was fairy-tale destructo schlock to begin with." "I didn't want to do Godzilla . But they made me a deal, which was unheard of. I said, 'OK, let's go about this really radically. I'm not doing big-belly Godzilla. I'm doing him as

6042-410: The film holds an approval rating of 25% based on eight reviews , with a weighted average rating of 3.9/10. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film a BOMB, his lowest rating for a film. In his review of the film, Maltin wrote that the film was "only good for laughs as [the] script hits every conceivable monster-movie cliché, right to the final shot". TV Guide gave the film one out of

6156-580: The film soon after Emmerich and Devlin's completion of the first draft, bestowing complete creative freedom to write, produce, and direct on the filmmakers, while the studio managed financing, distribution and merchandising deals. The deal also enabled Emmerich and Devlin to receive 15% first-dollar gross on the film while the original producers Cary Woods and Robert Fried would be given executive producer credits. Instead of employing Digital Domain as Jan de Bont planned for his Godzilla, Emmerich and Devlin decided to use their own effects team such as Volker Engel as

6270-484: The film to gross $ 100 million during the film's opening weekend, which fell on Memorial Day weekend, expecting to set a new record for the holiday. Ultimately, it would only end up earning $ 12.5 million on opening day and grossing $ 44 million during its opening weekend. The film grossed $ 55,726,951 over the four day holiday weekend, and $ 74.3 million in its first six days, falling below industry expectations. Its six-day opening gross nevertheless came close to

6384-489: The film up at TriStar. Woods recalled, "Peter got it; he saw the movie in his head. He was like, 'Godzilla, the fire-breathing monster?! Yesss!'" TriStar vice-chairman Ken Lemberger was sent to Tokyo to oversee the deal in obtaining the Godzilla rights from Toho in mid-1992. Sony's initial offer included a $ 300,000–400,000 advance payment with an annual licensing fee for the Godzilla character, as well as production bonuses, exclusive distribution and merchandising rights for Japan,

6498-433: The film was in 19th place, grossing $ 202,157. For that weekend, Lethal Weapon 4 made its debut, opening in first place with $ 34,048,124 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $ 136,314,294 in total ticket sales through an eight-week theatrical run (equivalent to $ 230 million adjusted for ticket inflation in 2013). Internationally, the film took in an additional $ 242.7 million in business, for

6612-422: The film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray . This release retained the same special features from the initial Blu-ray release, as well as a new Dolby Atmos audio mix. The Wall Street Journal reported that the film would need to gross $ 240 million domestically in order to be considered a success. Godzilla was released in the United States and Canada on May 20, 1998, in a record 3,310 theaters. Sony expected

6726-660: The film's reinvention of Godzilla, which included its redesign and departure from the source material. Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, noting that "One must carefully repress intelligent thought while watching such a film. The movie makes no sense at all except as a careless pastiche of its betters (and, yes, the Japanese Godzilla movies are, in their way, better—if only because they embrace dreck instead of condescending to it). You have to absorb such

6840-456: The film's visual effects supervisor, Joe Viskocil as miniature effects supervisor, Clay Pinney as mechanical effects supervisor, and William Fay as executive producer of the team. Viewpoint DataLabs created a digital model of Godzilla, nicknamed "Fred", for scenes that required a digital rendition of the monster. For scenes that required practical effects, Tatopoulos' studio created a 6th-scale animatronic model of Godzilla's upper-body as well as

6954-450: The film; Haruo Nakajima (who portrayed Godzilla from 1954 to 1972) stated, "I'm pleased. I hope that a competition will spring up between Toho and TriStar," Koichi Kawakita (special effects director of the Heisei Godzilla films) stated, "I have great expectations. I'm looking forward to seeing it, not only because I direct special effects for Godzilla films but also because I am a movie fan," Teruyoshi Nakano (special effects director of

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7068-771: The filmmakers if the studio did not immediately approve it. Emmerich and Devlin wrote the first draft in five and a half weeks at Emmerich's vacation house in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Emmerich and Devlin decided to abandon the Atlantis origin established in Elliott and Rossio's script in favor of the radiation origin established in the Toho films, Devlin stated, "In some of the early drafts of the script by others, they had Godzilla being an alien planted here. What Japan had originally come up with regarding nuclear radiation – you can't abandon that. It's too important to what Godzilla

7182-422: The first act (where we always do). At the time we told the audience who these characters were, they had already made their minds up about them and we could not change that perception". Devlin concluded by stating, "These were 2 serious mistakes in the writing of the film, and I take full responsibility." During a 2016 interview on Gilbert Gottfried 's Amazing Colossal Podcast! , Broderick maintained that he liked

7296-448: The first filmmakers approached by then-TriStar executive Chris Lee to do Godzilla but initially turned the offer down, Devlin stated, "Both of us thought it was a dopey idea the first time we talked. When Chris came back to us, we still thought it was a dopey idea." Despite praising Elliott and Rossio's script, Emmerich discarded it, stating, "It had some really cool things in it, but it is something I never would have done. The last half

7410-563: The first two volumes of their Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle trade paperback series. On April 25, 2010, Reptilicus was performed as an experimental stage play at Skuespilhusets Portscene in central Copenhagen , a co-production between Eventministeriet and CPH PIX . Titled Reptilicus Live , this adaptation was directed by Line Paulsen with all roles performed by Troels Thorsen, Johannes Lilleøre, Martin Greis, Jeanette Lindbæk Larsen and Signe Egholm Olsen, plus an uncredited puppeteer portraying

7524-405: The forms of particular equipment, symbolism, music, and the like. Different functions of the individual miner. Many of the roles are specific to a type of mining, such as coal mining. Roles considered to be "miners" in the narrower sense have included: Other roles within mines that did not involve breaking rock (and thus fit the broader definition) have included: In addition to miners working in

7638-405: The ground where the taxi is smashed under its jaw and slowly dies from its mortal wounds, and the remaining citizens and authorities celebrate. Audrey tells Caiman that she quits working for him after what he has done, before leaving with Nick. Philippe, taking a tape Animal was recording and promising to return it after removing certain contents, thanks Nick for his help and parts ways. Meanwhile, in

7752-462: The late Showa Godzilla films) stated, "I'm pleased that a new approach will be taken", and Ishirō Honda (director of various Showa Godzilla films) stated, "It will probably be much more interesting than the ones [currently] being produced in Japan." In 1994, Jan de Bont became attached to direct and began pre-production on the film for a 1996 summer release. De Bont's Godzilla would have discarded

7866-582: The manner of the American/Spanish versions of Universal's 1931 Dracula ." Danish miner Svend Viltorft digs up a section of a giant reptile's tail from the frozen grounds in Lapland , where he and other miners are drilling. The section is flown to the Denmark's Aquarium in Copenhagen , where it is preserved in a cold room for scientific study. But due to mishandling, the room is left open and

7980-458: The marketing, Levin stated, "we got indications from them that they really didn't think that the full figure Godzilla should be at all exposed prior to the release of the film. While initially we reacted negatively to that, once we understood their thinking behind it, it became completely acceptable to us." 300 companies signed an agreement not to show the full image of Godzilla before the film's release. Prior to principal photography, Emmerich filmed

8094-482: The meeting, to explain Tatopoulos' design, stating, "I told him, 'It's similar to Carl Lewis , with long legs, and it runs fast'." The following morning, Matsuoka approved the design, stating that Tatopoulos "kept the spirit of Godzilla." Despite receiving approval from Toho, TriStar had yet to green-light the film. Emmerich and Devlin wrote the script on spec, with the condition that the screenplay would return to

8208-448: The military's theory of the creature being a living dinosaur, instead deducing it is a mutant created by nuclear testing. The creature travels to New York City , leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The city is evacuated before the U.S. military , on Nick's advice, lure the creature into revealing itself with a large pile of fish. Their attempt to kill it fails, however, and only causes further damage before it escapes. Nick collects

8322-652: The monster by moving a shadow puppet . Theatre critic Jens Østergaard wrote in KultuNaut, April 26, 2010: "Not since Turbotown in Turbinehallerne has the audience cheered and laughed so enthusiastically at one of the Royal Theatre 's stages. Reptilicus is wacky and brilliant entertainment, performed with great love for the old Danish monster movie." Miner A miner is a person who extracts ore , coal , chalk , clay , or other minerals from

8436-505: The monster?" Siskel placed the film on his list of the worst films of 1998. James Berardinelli from ReelViews , called the film "one of the most idiotic blockbuster movies of all time, it's like spitting into the wind. Emmerich and Devlin are master illusionists, waving their wands and mesmerizing audiences with their smoke and mirrors. It's probably too much to hope that some day, movie-goers will wake up and realize that they've been had." Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that

8550-412: The most perilous hazards observed to take place in underground mining, as well as the overall long-term health effects of underground mining conditions. In some countries, miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance. In regions with a long mining tradition, many communities have developed cultural traditions and aspects specific to the various regions, in

8664-463: The music video for " Heroes " by The Wallflowers , Behind the Scenes of Godzilla with Charles Caiman, theatrical trailers, a featurette, director/producer and cast biographies, a photo gallery, music video, and Godzilla Takes New York (before and after shots). In 1999, Sony released a Widescreen Edition VHS. The VHS earned $ 8.04 million from rentals during its first week in the United States, at

8778-459: The nest inside Madison Square Garden , with over 200 eggs. Before long, the eggs begin to hatch and the strike team are attacked by the offspring. Nick, Animal, Audrey and Philippe take refuge in the Garden's broadcast booth and successfully send out a live news-report to alert the military. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before the Air Force bomb

8892-538: The nuclear testing that created Godzilla. Suspecting a nest somewhere in the city, they cooperate with Nick to trace and destroy it. Meanwhile, Godzilla resurfaces and dives into the Hudson River to evade a second attempt by the military to kill it, where it is attacked by Navy submarines. After colliding with torpedoes, Godzilla sinks, believed to be dead by the authorities. Nick and Philippe's team, followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, find

9006-584: The organic origins of Godzilla, in some ways a homage to US-Japanese relations." After De Bont joined the project, Elliott and Rossio revised the script based on his notes. Amongst the changes made to the first draft were the 12-year gap condensed to a year; Jill accompanies Keith to the Arctic site; Keith first notices Godzilla's teeth buried in ice instead of his claws; The alien probe crashes in Traveller, Utah instead of Kentucky. Elliott and Rossio remained on

9120-415: The original (or any monster movie worth its salt) a classic." Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned Godzilla a score of 32 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B−" on scale of A to F. Criticism highlighted by film critics included the film's script, acting, and directing, while fans targeted

9234-447: The physical requirements the Godzilla in our film had to have. They're very protective." In October 1992, TriStar formally announced their acquisition of the rights to Godzilla from Toho to produce a trilogy of Godzilla films, with the promise of "remaining true to the original series—cautioning against nuclear weapons and runaway technology." After TriStar's announcement, many of the original Godzilla filmmakers expressed support for

9348-407: The poetic aspect of fear and wonder from the original Toho movies, and the idea of a prior 'sin' which had caused the mutation and revenge of Godzilla." He felt that the script lacked proper characters and "had too many extra sequences which didn't deliver." He also took issue that the script never developed Godzilla as a character and treated him similar to The Terminator , though he suspected De Bont

9462-533: The power breath, effects supervisor Volker Engel stated, "Dean and Roland wanted this monster to retain a certain menace and credibility, but Godzilla's breath is something everyone expects to see at some point, so they came up with instances in which you would see something like the old breath, but with a kind of logic applied to it. We make the assumption that something in his breath, when it comes in contact with flame, causes combustive ignition. So you get this flame-thrower effect, which causes everything to ignite." As

9576-441: The previous DVD's special features, as well as an "All-Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes" featurette, 3 episodes from Godzilla: The Series , and a "never-before-seen" production art gallery. On November 10, 2009, the film was released on Blu-ray , which retained the special features from the second DVD release, sans the animated series episodes. On July 16, 2013, Sony released a "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray edition. On May 14, 2019,

9690-566: The project after De Bont left and completed their final rewrites in spring 1995. Prior to hiring a new director, TriStar hired Don Macpherson to rewrite the Elliott/Rossio script. Prior to his hiring, Macpherson was working on Possession until he received a call from his agent with an offer to work on Godzilla . Macpherson "immediately accepted" due to being a fan of the Toho Godzilla films. Macpherson met with Marc Platt,

9804-418: The project. Prior to the release of Independence Day , director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on to the project in May 1996 under the condition they would be able to handle the film their way, Devlin stated, "I told Sony that I would do the film but on my own terms, with Godzilla as a fast-moving animal out of nature, rather than some strange kind of creature." Emmerich and Devlin were

9918-446: The project. The people who were running the studio at that particular time may not have seen commercial potential there, may not have thought that it would make a great film." Taking advice from his wife, Woods instead went over the executives' heads and proposed the idea to Peter Guber , the then-chairman of the board and CEO of Sony Pictures. Guber became enthusiastic about the idea, seeing Godzilla as an "international brand" and set

10032-466: The release of Starship Troopers . Taco Bell contributed to the marketing of the film with $ 20 million in media support. The marketing campaign featured commercials of the Taco Bell chihuahua attempting to trap the monster in a box or riding on the monster's tail and making an order for two. Trendmasters manufactured the toys for the film, including the 11-inch tall "Living Godzilla" and

10146-684: The ruins of Madison Square Garden, a single surviving egg hatches and the hatchling roars to life. American film producer and distributor Henry G. Saperstein (who had co-produced and distributed past Godzilla films for the American market through his studio UPA ) received permission from Toho Co., Ltd. to pitch a new Godzilla film to Hollywood studios, stating, "For ten years I pressured Toho to make one in America. Finally they agreed." Saperstein initially met with Sony Pictures producers Cary Woods and Robert N. Fried for discussions regarding

10260-585: The same release, Matt Brunson from Creative Loafing also gave the film a negative review: "The effects used to create Reptilicus (a puppet, basically) are no worse than those seen in many of the era's films (it still beats the oversized bird in The Giant Claw , for starters), but the effects employed when the creature does something like munch on humans or shoot acidic green slime from its mouth manage to travel beyond atrocious. [...] Awkward dubbing of foreign actors, special effects that look like they cost

10374-431: The screenplay. Prior to their hiring, Elliott and Rossio were searching for their next project and were offered Godzilla by their advisor Cary Woods. The duo initially declined the offer several times, Elliott recalled, "We actually turned the project down about two or three times because we weren't sure we knew what to do with it." Woods eventually convinced them to discuss the project with TriStar. Elliott and Rossio wrote

10488-704: The seam, a mine employs other workers in duties in the sea. In addition to the office staff of various sorts, these may include: Mining engineers use the principles of math and science to develop philosophical solutions to technical problems for miners. In most cases, a bachelor's degree in engineering, mining engineering or geological engineering is required. Because technology is constantly changing, miners and mining engineers need to continue their education. The basics of mining engineering includes finding, extracting, and preparing minerals, metals and coal. These mined products are used for electric power generation and manufacturing industries. Mining engineers also supervise

10602-418: The section begins to thaw, only for scientists to find that it is starting to regenerate. Professor Otto Martens, who is in charge of the aquarium, dubs the reptilian species "Reptilicus" (upon a reporter's suggestion) and compares its regeneration abilities to that of other animals like planarians and starfishs . Once fully regenerated from the tail section, Reptilicus goes on an unstoppable rampage from

10716-507: The settings have remained unusually fresh ground for motion pictures. Reptilicus at Saga Studios in Copenhagen made "at a cost of $ 380,000 (equivalent to $ 3,913,701 in 2023), about a third of what it probably would have cost if made in the U. S." Pink attempted to produce a remake of the film in 2001, due to the box office success of Godzilla in 1998, before his death in 2002. The Danish-language Reptilicus directed by Poul Bang

10830-555: The side of the angels but he could still be a monster." The duo chose to add small details to make Godzilla seem "more realistic", such as the nictitating membrane . The duo took inspiration from Moby-Dick for the story concept. As the story developed, they found that the Ahab archetype would be more interesting if it were a woman who lost her husband to Godzilla. Elliott described the story to be about obsession, redemption and "inappropriate grief response." The duo also wanted to deliver

10944-490: The tape in his report, declaring it his own discovery, and dubs the creature " Godzilla ". As a result of the tape's disclosure, Nick is removed from the operation and he disowns Audrey, before being kidnapped by the mysterious Frenchman Philippe Roaché. Revealing himself as an agent of the French secret service , Philippe explains that he and his colleagues have been closely watching the events to cover up their country's role in

11058-406: The then-President of TriStar, to discuss the film. The studio was concerned with the film's proposed $ 120 million budget, later revised to $ 200 million. De Bont insisted that all of the film's effects be entirely digital, Macpherson noted, "The problem was that, in this version of the movie, it was all effects. Godzilla was in virtually every scene. So everything was an SFX scene." Macpherson

11172-418: The time making it the biggest video opening since Titanic . The DVD sold over 400,000 units in the United States by the end of 1998. It was also reported that NBC would pay around $ 25 million for the television broadcast rights in the United States. On December 13, 2005, the film was released on Universal Media Disc . On March 28, 2006, Sony released a special "monster" edition DVD that retained

11286-507: The time of its original release ( Reptilicus by Dean Owen (real name: Dudley Dean McGaughey) (Monarch Books 1961)). In 1961, Charlton Comics produced a comic book based on the film. Reptilicus lasted two issues. After the copyright had lapsed, Charlton modified the creature's look and renamed it Reptisaurus. The series was renamed Reptisaurus the Terrible and would continue from issue #3 before being cancelled with issue #8 in 1962. This

11400-411: The tone of the script, Elliott stated, "Toho insisted we not make light of the monster. That helped us find the right tone as well as the social and political implications." The duo wanted to avoid a comic-like approach and instead take the material seriously with a "legitimate science fiction story" that would evoke feelings of "mystified or scared or awe-inspired" for audiences. Rossio wanted to create

11514-407: The weekend matinees you saw as a kid, like Hercules films and the really bad Italian westerns . You'd go with all your friends and just laugh." In later years, Devlin stated that he "screwed up" his Godzilla, mainly blaming the script that he co-wrote with Emmerich as the source of the film's failure. Devlin additionally emphasized "two flaws" that he believed hurt the film, stating, "The first

11628-416: Was also considered but abandoned later during production. Emmerich and Devlin also abandoned Godzilla's iconic atomic breath in favor of a "power breath", where their Godzilla would simply blow objects away by exhaling a strong wind-like breath. However, news of the power breath leaked before the film's release, which outraged fans and forced Emmerich and Devlin to make last minute changes on scenes involving

11742-660: Was angry at the changes and wound up in a legal dispute with AIP. After Pink and others viewed Melchior's new version, however, the lawsuit was dropped. Pink's film was finally released in the United States in 1962. Sidney Pink produced four films in Denmark: The Greeneyed Elephant , Journey to the Seventh Planet and the two Reptilicus -films. Following his return to Hollywood, he praised Denmark and Danish filmmaking, including

11856-491: Was certified platinum on June 22, 1998. The original score was composed by David Arnold . The film's score was not released on CD until 9 years later, when it went on sale as a complete original film score in 2007 by La La Land Records. The album was supported by the single " Come with Me " performed by Sean Combs and Jimmy Page . Bob Levin, chief of marketing for the film, was caught by surprise when Emmerich insisted not to use full body images or head shots of Godzilla during

11970-513: Was completed swiftly and released in Denmark on February 25, 1961. Following delivery of his negative to American International Pictures , Pink's film was deemed virtually unreleasable and had to be extensively reworked by the film's Danish-American screenwriter, Ib Melchior . This included altering footage to show Reptilicus vomiting acid saliva; the Danish actors' voices (speaking English with Danish accents) were dubbed over by mainly American actors (and in several cases by Melchior himself). Pink

12084-489: Was followed by a critical comparison of the two films in Video Watchdog #96, 2003, noting that "almost every time the camera placement and editing differs between the two films, Pink emerges as a better filmmaker than Poul Bang. Pink's camera tends to be part of the drama, while Bang's camera is a distant, bored observer, typical of Danish cinema at that time.". A novelization of the film was released in paperback at

12198-510: Was followed by a one-shot called Reptisaurus Special Edition in 1963. Reptisaurus also made a cameo in the 12th issue of another Charlton giant monster comic, Gorgo . In 2012, Scary Monsters Magazine reprinted the Reptisaurus the Terrible series as a black and white collection called Scarysaurus the Scary . In 2020, PS Artbooks published the two issues of Reptilicus as a bonus in

12312-456: Was like watching two creatures go at it. I simply don't like that." Emmerich instead decided to develop new ideas from scratch, stating, "I didn't want to make the original Godzilla , I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to make my own. We took part of [the original movie's] basic storyline, in that the creature becomes created by radiation and it becomes a big challenge. But that's all we took. Then we asked ourselves what we would do today with

12426-405: Was reimagined by Tatopoulos as a lean, digitigrade bipedal iguana-like creature that stood with its back and tail parallel to the ground. Godzilla's color scheme was designed to reflect and blend in with the urban environment. At one point, it was planned to use motion capture from a human to create the movements of the computer-generated Godzilla, but it ended up looking too much like a human in

12540-520: Was released in Denmark on February 25, 1961. The English-language Reptilicus directed by Sidney Pink and reworked by Ib Melchior was released in the US in late 1962. Poul Bang's Danish-language Reptilicus was released in Denmark on Betamax and VHS from Video Action as Rædselsuhyret , on VHS from Video International as Dus med uhyret , in 1994 on VHS from Sandrew Metronome as Reptilicus , and in 2002 on DVD from Sandrew Metronome as Reptilicus . In 2019,

12654-419: Was responsible for this portrayal. Macpherson felt that the script's depiction of Godzilla was "relentless", noting, "very much a Godzilla POV, so you neither identified with Godzilla nor with the scientists trying to protect the world." He also took issue that the first half of the script was driven by destruction and by the script's mid-point, there was "monster fatigue" and no "encore," stating, "So I thought

12768-445: Was shown storyboards , concept art, and designs from De Bont's version. However, he did not keep these ideas in mind, feeling that such elements would change depending on the budget. Instead, Macpherson used the Toho Godzilla design as a reference when rewriting the script. He noted that the project had transitioned into a film that turned directors away, stating, "they said they wanted strong, creative directors. But they wanted them as

12882-513: Was silence for a couple minutes, and then they said, 'Could you come back tomorrow?' I thought for sure we didn't have the movie then." Tomiyama later recalled that "It was so different we realized we couldn't make small adjustments. That left the major question of whether to approve it or not." Even though Tomiyama was not allowed to remove the artwork and maquette from the studio premise, Tomiyama visited Godzilla producer and creator Tomoyuki Tanaka , whose failing health prevented him from attending

12996-439: Was tasked with rewriting the script to match TriStar's "ideal" budget of $ 80 million. Prior to rewriting the script, he requested to meet with the production crew to pinpoint which scenes were deemed the most expensive. The production crew reported that the three main problems that were considered "difficult and costly" were Godzilla's size, Godzilla's interaction with water, and Godzilla's interaction with masonry. Macpherson

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