Two meditations on G98 and Dean Devlin (long)

[MSTmario]

In the interest of moving to new areas of discussion of a movie that I'm sure
is going to be with us for QUITE awhile, (Seriously, if this penetrates the
pre-teenage male market like it's aimed to, a thousand Brooklyn Bridges won't
be able to stop Godzilla,) I offer a few personal non-biased meditations on
some finer points in the new Godzilla.

THE "NEW" GODZILLA:
First of all, how "new" is he? Oh sure, it's a revamped monster, that much is
apparent to even the most casual of Godzilla observers. But, still, is he
really THAT new? Is this as much as jump as, say, Karloff's "Frankenstein
Monster" to DeNiro's "Frankenstein Monster?" I dunno, maybe... But I don't
think so. The problem is, Godzilla is a funny sort of thing to stay "faithful"
to. At best, what he "is" is based on a description thats vague at best. "Big
reptilian/dinosaur monster with a humanoid body structure and a long tail."
Other than that, the "constants" of his appearance are anything but. Aside from
obvious alterations, (the lack of flame-breath, no glowing spikes, etc.,) The
new Godzilla adheres rather faithfully to at least the "essence" of the
original's design. Godzilla hasn't been given four arms, he doesn't sport huge
leathery wings, he doesn't snag things with some massive tongue like an
overgrown Yoshi. As far as the base-elements go, the two Godzilla's are well
linked to eachother.
And yet, there IS something fundamentally new and different about the 1998
Godzilla. Sure, we can debate specifics all we want in relation to the shape of
some dorsal plates or the angles of teeth or the merits of a chin, but the new
feel seems to cut to something deeper: My perspective? First, theres less
mystery here. The original Godzilla was very alien looking. Resembling a
reptile only in vaguest of terms, a dinosaur in terms even vaguer, and a human
only when it comes to it's arms and legs, giving Toho's Godzilla a single
identity is difficult. He could be a hairless mammal just as easily as a lumpy
lizard, and a dinosaur just as easily as an extra-terrestrial. Now, the 1998
Godzilla is completely different. We are told, (by means of psuedo-scientific
gobbleygook that comes dangerously close to overstepping even Toho's *ahem*
WIDE margin of disbelief,) EXACTLY what this Godzilla is. Whereas old Godzilla
draws his fear-factor from being a mystery bordering on the mythic, NEW
Godzilla gets his scariness from our knowing what he's capable of. No matter
how you slice it, the concept of 200 ft. monster giving birth to 200 MORE of
those big monsters, each one who will produce 200 more..... is SCARY. Going
even deeper, we are also told exactly WHAT Godzilla is. The look, the shape,
the scale-pattern all let us know what he is. Now, are either of the approaches
a BAD thing? I think thats up to the individual audience-member.
Finally, theres behavior. Despite the fact that Devlin's "commitment to
realism" in this movie is about as true as his "it's just a movie stance," when
it comes to the New Godzilla's behavior in relation to what he is, realism is
the word. New Godzilla is supposed to be a giant lizard, and that is what he
acts like. Pawing at things, attacking cars and choppers with his mouth instead
of his arms, ducking into crevices or diving into the ocean when hopelessly
outnumbered, THAT is what giant lizard WOULD do. Regardless of whether you like
the new design or is actions, you can't deny that when Dean and Roland said
"he's a lizard," the design team listened. This is, however, a total departure
from the original Godzilla. That creature was a creature of vague origin with
an even vaguer descrition of what it was. It was invunerable to bombs, missles,
bullets and the heaviest of artillery, yet a single gash from Gigan's
belly-buzzsaw slices him open like a giant meatloaf. In other words, he sports
the standard monster-movie "selective invunerability" that works in his
universe. He is also skilled in sign langauge, speaks the dialects of other
monsters and at some point seems to have earned a blackbelt in the Martial
Arts. His powers don't need much explanation, since he gets by on the thinest
shoestring as far as the conditions of his very existence in the first place.
The original Godzilla is something of a "Superman," whereas the new one is more
of a "Rambo" action hero. Both are unlikely to exist and they're origins are
the largest of Hitchcockian McGuffins, but how much they bend reality and in
what way, are what make them different. So different that to try to find the
"better" creation is about as pointless as searching to ocean floor for a REAL
Godzilla.

THE TROUBLE WITH DEAN:
What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall 24 hours in Dean Devlin's office.
I'm not sure what I'd see more off, Dean feverishly working on what I'm sure he
percieves are complex human dramas..... Or Dean sitting back in his chair,
looking around at where he's ended up and laughing with the uncontrollable
happiness as the finally-proven-correct hero of any post-Jaws Speilbergian
hero. I'm guessing the laughing. At they're worst, (Stargate,) Devlin's scripts
are overly-complex setups attempting to disguise a stunningly simple plot that
comes off like a 4-hour session of 8-year-olds crafting a fantasy world for
they're G.I. Joe toys to play in. At they're best, (Godzilla,) they are the
predictably disjointed but immensly enjoyable product of a BIG monster-movie
buff who has suddenly found himself given permission to throw any wild,
visually stunning scene he wants to onscreen with the confidence that they will
be realized by his partner Roland who, for better or worse, understands EXACTLY
how Dean thinks.
And, OH! What scenes they are! Godzilla plows through a dock at the Fish
Market! Godzilla dodges a mosquito-like swarm of Apache Choppers! Godzilla
turns Madison Square Garden into a massive monster nest! Godzilla bursts from
the earth only to find his slaughtered young! Godzilla dives over the heads of
humans right into the East River.... and a confrontation with Nuclear
Submarines! Godzilla sprints across the Brooklyn Bridge! Godzilla chases a Taxi
into a tunnel like a cat reaching into a mouse hole! WOW! No question about it,
Dean writes one HELL of an action sequence. Now, the trouble is, while he has
the kind of "wouldn't it be great if Godzilla did THIS!?" imagination usually
bestowed only unto 10-year-old Godzilla fans, he is unfortunately not yet
experienced enough to come up with more plausible ways to connect his awesome
action scenes together. As a result, ID4 and Godzilla BOTH cause the audience
to suffer from major attacks of relentless "Hey! Wait a second....."
revelations the minute the thrill of his action-scene mastery wears off.
Now, I'm certainly not suggesting that Dean sacrifice any of his great Godzilla
scenes in order to spend MORE time on the "plot." After all, a movie CALLED
"Godzilla" exists for only one reason: To show Godzilla doing as much cool
stuff as he can in a given time period. Now, the problem is, this is Godzilla:
The Movie and not Godzilla: The series of random action scenes. Thus, there
must be a plot and characters on hand to give Godzilla a reason to do things,
and then to explain why he can. The reasons and explanations don't need to be
airtight. They are, as the great Alfred Hitchcock called them, McGuffins. You
only THINK you care about WHY Godzilla chases the cab, but the only becuase you
need to justify to you'reself how much fun it is watching him do it. Hitchcock
touted his concept of McGuffin's because his movies required them. His
fight-scenes atop Mt. Rushmore or the Statue of Liberty were fantastic
centerpeices, and in the end the REASON that either happened was irrelevant,
yet necessary. The fundamental difference here between Dean's use of
suspended-disbelief McGuffin's and Hitchcock's was that Hitchock was an
experience, finely tuned and ultra-talented director capable of coming up with
near-perfectly logical McGuffins to lead in to his marvels of visual
action...... And Dean is not. Now, in Dean's defense, he IS getting better at
this. Granted, he still needs to work on his grasp of logic and realize the
importance of RESEARCHING you're psuedo-science, and he is still a little rough
around the edges. But a little more practice he is going to a talent to be
reckonned with in the screenwriting world, and I'm going to enjoy watching him
get there.
Now, his P.R. skills are another story ALTOGETHER! As visual technicians and
marketers, Dean and Roland are working at an amazingly professional level given
they're relative newness to the big-Hollywood scene. Now, as far as they're
ability to handle people and fans goes, they reveal they're rank amature
status. Onscreen, they can assault the audience with such hugley satisfying
visuals that most of the can't call them on classicly-"Hollywood newbie"
plot-holes until it's too late. When INTERVIEWED about they're films, (Godzilla
more than any,) they are unable to use this tactic and thus tense up and wind
up saying some REALLY dumb things. You can almost hear they're brain's clicking
away: "Ummmm... Ummm... We did it to be more realistic! Oh that part? It's...
ummm... It's just a movie! Ummmm..... Errrrr..." And when that doesn't work
they resort to emergency measures: bending the truth, double-talking, changing
the subject and outright lying... ANYTHING to make all the problems go away so
they can go back to figuring out cool new things for they're $160 Million pet
lizard to do. I almost feel bad for them.... Almost. Dealing with people
prepped to call them on the slightest lapse in logic, (and then making HUGE
lapses trying to deal with them,) they are so out of they're league that they
begin to look like the "scared new-guy" in every Vietnam War movie. Whats most
tragic about this is that Dean is one of the few filmmakers I've seen so
willing to jump into the fray with the fans, braving to venture at random into
chat rooms and Bulletin Boards and other non-P.R. controlled realms that even
Speilberg and Lucas probably wouldn't touch with a "Tail As Big As This Train."

In the end, what hurts Godzilla 1998, (how much is an opinion that will vary
among us,) is the same thing that helps it. It is, at it's barest core, an
excercise in "wouldn't it be cool if....." imagination that leads to a movie
bursting at the seams with SHOWSTOPPING Godzilla-action setpeices.
Unfortunately, that imagination ends there. Dean's childlike, awe-struck
treatment of his Godzilla eventually gives way to fact that he, like the
children-playing-with-toy's who's mindset he has assumed, has no interest in
thinking about WHY Godzilla does his "cool stuff," only that he does it. (How
many times have you seen little kids play-acting with action figures take time
out to include a well-planned, logically tactful reason for G.I. Joe to
parachute into the enemy territory or for Leonardo the Turtle to hop into his
van?) Dean has an emerging talent that shows the raw potential to bring us
movies like we never dreamed possible, but to reach that point he is going to
have to learn to balance his "Man, that would look COOL!," visual imagination
with a "Wait, will it make sense?," restraint.... WITHOUT compromising either
one for the other. If he can do that, and Godzilla shows signs that he indeed
can, we're going to see some great movies from the "ID4 Team."

[S_Ha...@msn.com]

I've already posted it, but your incredibly thoughtful commentary on Godzilla
and the process that led to its creation made me think this would be as good
a place as any to illustrate how the creative process...taken one step
further (by me in this case) can take the basic elements of a movie that
suffers and address all of the open issues that (at least for me anyway) made
the film implausible and hard to enjoy. This is my take on the Godzilla 98
story that Devlin and Emmerich hatched with a bit more original thought given
to how to address some of the glaring omissions/character problems/sub-plots
that will ultimately (again, IMO) doom this movie...have fun...

Here is a synopsis of the Godzilla 98 I wish they would have made...with all
TMs and Copyrights retained by the respective holders of course...This film
would be patterned off of what Devlin/Emmerich envisioned and is NOT a
different movie, just a re-worked version of theirs...:

Opening would be similar to the existing filmed movie (except I would leave
the origins of the creature and what he was originally a mystery for the
audience to settle for itself) with Nico being a specialist in mutants and
being called down into central America to see the footprints.

I would scrap the two doctors he hooks up with down there (who disappear for
some inexplicable reason in the middle of the movie) in favor of a French
contingent of mutation specialists who have been directly studying the after-
effects of the French above-ground testing. This group would be headed by
Jean Reno's character and provide some back-up for Godzilla and how he came
into being by showing Nico and the military (as well as us) secret film of a
proto-Godzilla (sort of an in-between link) that was discovered and the
French government's concern that other such creatures may have reached full
maturity. You could also have some dialogue stressing how the U.N. assured
France that it would have no liability because of their decision to assist
with this project.

While on the island you could have some eyewitness reports and even have DNA
collected from the creature’s rampage which would immediately be sent to the
military labs and CDC to establish whether the species could be carrying any
type of mutated viruses that pose a threat above and beyond the Monster's
sheer size.

Switch gears to the group being moved to the Eastern seaboard to continue
tracking the high seas mayhem the creature has caused in the last 24 hours.
Have some conversations about why the Monster would be moving now considering
the maturity period required to reach full adulthood.

Once they set up in NYC Godzilla's blood/DNA sample comes back clear of any
type of pathogens, but does reveal the fact that the beast is likely in a
state of gestation...Broderick and Jean Reno's character illuminate the rest
of us to what that could mean (although it wouldn't result in the ‘end of our
species’...geez that was corny in the movie).

Then Godzilla arrives and makes a smashing entry onto Manhattan island.
People scurry, Godzilla largely ignores them. TV helicopters track the beast
from above (something the movie was missing was any kind of static or full-
body shots...we got to many moving shots that seemed locked on his ankles)
and we see wanton mayhem as the Monster proceeds through the Big Apple (like
what Devlin/Emmerich filmed - maybe we see a few people get squished,
however). Animal and a reporter (who would be similar to, but different from
the Audrey character Pitillo played) follow the Beast like in the final
movie. These two provide the narrative over the television to the audience
similar to how it was portrayed in the Devlin/Emmerich version. The TV
reporters above the city record the mayhem as the scientist watch on and the
Monster digs its way underground and disappears as the cameras roll.

The military begins preparations by calling for the immediate evacuation of
NYC. The political types (who wouldn't be there just to poke fun at Siskel
and Ebert) would talk up the futility of the situation but promise to go
along with the plan. Since the city is still populated the first choice of
nerve agents or gas are ruled out but the military will attempt to flesh out
the creature to the tunnel opening with non-lethal gas and explosives at the
point where the Monster disappeared underground. Additional explosives would
be placed around the mouth of the tunnel to detonate when the creature
arrives and helicopter gunships would provide further support (it would
appear coordinated and planned…something that the military never seem to
project much of in the Devlin/Emmerich movie).

As they begin their plan (which they could I guess compliment with the whole
pile of fish lure) an assortment of tanks and other hardware are erected
around the primary tunnel Godzilla created while Apache's stand high over the
city ready to lock onto the Monster with laser-guided bombs/missiles.

As they put the plan into effect Broderick and Jean Reno begin work that will
help prepare the military for a response to the creature's brood...they are
not encouraged by their (as yet unspoken) discoveries...the military asks
them to observe what is about to transpire from the base...

Soldiers enter the tunnel to deposit the explosive charges/gas cannisters and
are amazed at the size of the passage that Godzilla has created. They leave
the charges and exit.

We hear great explosions and the city is rocked. Then the Beast explodes from
the city street behind the military (the shot of Godzilla rising out of the
city street - the best FX shot in the existing Devlin/Emmerich movie would go
here). As they attempt to reposition themselves the helicopters open up with
missiles, striking the giant creature on the back...as the full compliment of
attack choppers readies to fire, however, Godzilla rears back and lets loose
with RADIOACTIVE BREATH that vaporizes the tops of the buildings on way to
its real target - the helicopters. First one, then another, then another are
blown out of the sky. The military quickly order the copters to reposition
themselves within the city to hide from the Monster while the ground troops
open up on Godzilla. The choppers (led by a new character who is the chief
pilot followed in this story) follow orders and dive into the steel jungle of
Manhattan and get cover behind the skyscrapers.

Godzilla takes it in the beginning of this exchange, actually being thrown
into a building which collapses around it. The Monster then regains its
posture, however, and quickly advances on the assembled troops, using
radioactive breath to vaporize the soldiers, melt the tanks and turn the Wall
St. district into a flaming inferno before turning its attention
elsewhere...the military officials, Broderick and Reno watch in horror on
monitors in the base camp…

The military momentarily loses the creature as no one is left to watch for
it. The Monster is seen in fleeting glimpses by choppers (including our lead
team of pilots) as it rushes through the city streets to appear...

At Times Square...the people who haven't left the city run in every direction
as the Monster takes out various neon landmarks in the area. The military
gives the go-ahead to engage the creature at all costs and more helicopters
converge on the area. Our new lead pilot group confirms the order and opens
fire. Between the helicopter missiles and Godzilla's radioactive breath Times
Square is left in ruins. As more helicopters converge on Godzilla, the
Monster realizes it is out-numbered and forces it’s way past the flying
blockade at great speed...

At the tunnel Broderick, Jean Reno and the leads from the military base camp
survey the damage and make the startling discovery that the creature is
highly radioactive (something that isn't mentioned much in the current film -
unless you count the static coming from the old man at the beginning - it is
just like ‘the thing’s radioactive’ and they move on)...as they reveal more
about their theory that the Monster is here - for whatever reason - to likely
lay eggs the thunderous steps of the creature begin to echo off the
skyscrapers and the Monster turns the corner and heads right for them (with
choppers in pursuit). The Monster takes a dive into the tunnel as the primary
characters scatter to get out of the way and helicopters zip overhead in
waves...

The next morning and televisions (led by the intrepid reporter we were
introduced to earlier in the picture) are reporting staggering death tolls,
problems with the evacuation and the ominous rumor that the beast may have
brought some type of radioactivity to the city...Broderick and Jean Reno work
with the military at devising a plan to find the creature... the military
plan to use a small strategic nuclear weapon to destroy the Monster.
Broderick and Reno argue that such actions - even in the face of the carnage
that has unfolded - is reckless and premature... the NYC mayor forbids such
use a weapon (you could let the mayor have some good dialogue about how the
market reacts to a giant mutant dinosaur smashing up Wall St….’Have you seen
what the markets are doing today!’) but the military claim that the beast may
be giving off more radioactivity than a small-yield bomb would and that the
beast's radioactive by-product will be used as the cover story to mask the
use of such a weapon...besides, the president has ordered such use…and as far
as the public are concerned it will not be a nuclear weapon causing the small
levels of radioactivity. They know they can evacuate the area around the
arena completely so that no more human casualties will be sustained.
Broderick and Reno as well as the politicos, reluctantly go along.

Meanwhile, if you wanted to incorporate the reporter into the story in a
stronger fashion you could have the reporter and 'Animal' character stumble
upon the info of the military's planned use of a nuke. They would obviously
be detained and depending on how cheesey you wanted the story you could give
them an opportunity to participate in the ruse by playing on their
willingness for a scoop...

The military gathers hundreds of well-armed soldiers who are charged with the
task of eliminating Godzilla and his brood. Broderick and Reno will escort
them to monitor the current condition of the creature's procreative process
and assist from a scientific point of view. They enter the tunnel...(if you
want to be a bit unrealistic but incorporate either the reporter/cameraman or
both you could arrange for them to come along...although I could take or
leave that point)...

This brigade of soldiers follows the tunnel to its source...Godzilla in MSG.
The only problem is that the creature is nowhere to be seen...just dozens (if
not hundreds) of eggs littering every level of the complex. And they make
another discovery...a second tunnel leading out under the city and towards
the ocean...When the base camp learns that the beast has been roosting in MSG
everyone is a bit peeved, but the political types reinforce that Godzilla
stomped all through the city…’I’m sure someone called this in but which of
the thousand leads did you want us to start on first?’

They quickly return their attention to the eggs, with dozens of soldiers
placing charges on the unborn Babyzillas...As the explosives are attached,
however, screams begin to ring out and then the eggs begin to crack. The
military orders a pull-back from the area despite pleas from Broderick that
they must collapse the tunnels and surround MSG. The military leader informs
Broderick that something else is planned and they must pull back. A full-open
firefight ensues with the military being slowly picked off by the Babyzillas
while filling others with full-auto gunfire, grenades and more.

Broderick can't find Reno...now his good friend...he finally locates him
after a close call with a Babyzilla that nearly kills him...before it is
killed by Reno's character in an uncharacteristic display of combat skill.
Reno explains that he is working with the military on direct orders from both
his country and the U.S. ...that he won't be missed...that he is carrying the
nuke and has been ordered to wait for Godzilla's return...Broderick hesitates
but as the military slowly loses the battle against the physically superior
Babyzillas and the loud pulses of Godzilla's approach down the tunnel from
the ocean he is convinced to leave...Reno assures him that he has trained his
life to carry out this mission and Broderick leaves him.

The military leaps out the tunnels as Babyzillas pursue, picking off soldiers
as they fall back...the military prevents any Babyzillas from escaping down
the tunnel past them...Reno takes refuge in a secured office as Babyzillas
pound to get in...they are starting to make progress as Godzilla appears...We
see Broderick and the military (what’s left of it) reaching the lip of the
tunnel near Central Park…meanwhile, the brood of the Monster retreat to their
mother when it appears and after some self-reflection Reno detonates the
device...we see, from Broderick's new point of view climbing out of the
tunnel...the horizon illuminated and then from above MSG as the building
explodes from the force of the nuke...We see Godzilla fall backwards out of
the top of the now roofless and completely disintegrated sports
complex...clearly dead...The area around Broderick shakes, but the collapsed
tunnel shields everyone from any backblast. (obviously, the location of the
tunnel could be changed to put it in better proximity to MSG if need be, but
you get the point).

Everyone is somber, but joyous that the Monster has been stopped. They begin
to quietly celebrate...Broderick begins to tell the reporter about Reno's
character when he overhears something on one of the mics that has been
abandoned in the party...

"Base...we have a new problem..."

The party dies down and Broderick and military turn their attention to the
report coming in from one of the helicopter gunships...the lead pilot
character…

There is another Godzilla...

Everyone turns to Broderick who had professed that the creature likely
reproduced asexually...there is a male!

The pre-dawn sky fills with attack choppers closing in on the new creature as
it rises from the ocean and crushes its way onto Manhattan...it is larger
than the first and bears an odd resemblence to the Toho Godzilla design...
The creature approaches the MSG area, literally walking through buildings...
It finds its mate...sees its dead young...and let's loose with a terrible
blast of radioactive breath that levels skyscrapers in all directions.

Hundreds of choppers converge on the area escorted by planes...no longer is
any effort made to protect the city from wayward missiles...all restraint is
abandoned...FIRE AT WILL! Godzilla, realizing the odds, flees through the
city (the helicopter chase seen earlier on in the current Devlin movie would
be the model for this sequence)... the creature storms past the base camp,
pursued by the Apaches... and lunges back into the ocean... (you could either
have the beast disappear - setting up a sequel featuring a new Monster people
would want to see or you could play the nuclear sub sequences from the
current movie and have the Monster stopped, dropping to the ocean floor as
the movie recalls earlier dialogue outlining the horrors of the nuclear mess
that is slowly overtaking the planet…or you could reproduce the Brooklyn
Bridge ending with the beast following the helicopters instead of a cab)...

THE END

Now, I realize that there are many specifics that would need to be addressed,
but this would be the basic plot and action...no love stories...just a good
Godzilla flick with plenty of action and, more importantly, a REASON for
everything to happen the way it does. Sure you would still have the
comparisons to JP and the raptors (but perhaps you could at least make them
act a bit differently), but I think by having hundreds of soldiers actually
going in and most falling prey to the Monster you would address a lot of the
implausibility that many felt filled that sequence).

I also know that adding a second creature would increase the budget...but
hey, having classic Godzilla show up as the male of the species at the end
(making him a more realistic male companion to the current design...somewhere
in between the current one and the Toho version) would be a blast...if you
couldn't do a new design just use the original but give it some color or
different plates or just change the scale (we know that Devlin/Emmerich can
do that based on how many different scales of size the Monster has in the
current movie <G>)...

Outside of that point I think everything else could be done on a similar
budget as the existing movie boasts similar effects...

Anyway, that's the Godzilla 98 movie I would have liked to have seen...

Steve Harris
Publisher
Cinescape
Lowt...@msn.com

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[CbozStnCld]

>The Monster then regains its
>posture, however, and quickly advances on the assembled troops, using
>radioactive breath to vaporize the soldiers

A cool way to do this is by looking at Starship Troopers and when those big
beetles fried those soldiers, now that would be some sweet SPX!!

[Pet Post]

>Opening would be similar to the existing filmed movie (except I would leave
>the origins of the creature and what he was originally a mystery

The opening? It would have been nice if D&E actually had the opening sequence
right...The French never exploded any bombs ABOVE ground...that was footage
from American testing! All of the French's testing was done underground...

Jim in Seattle
The Kumi Mizuno Fan Page - All Bow Down To The Diva of TOHO!
http://members.aol.com/petpost/kumi.html
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