Godzilla (1998 film)

Godzilla
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roland Emmerich
Screenplay by	Roland Emmerich Dean Devlin
Story by	Roland Emmerich Dean Devlin Ted Elliott (1994 script) Terry Rossio (1994 script)
Produced by	Dean Devlin
Starring	Matthew Broderick Jean Reno Maria Pitillo Hank Azaria Kevin Dunn Michael Lerner Harry Shearer
Cinematography	Ueli Steiger
Edited by	Peter Amundson David Siegel
Music by	David Arnold
Production companies	Centropolis Entertainment TriStar Pictures
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Toho (Japan)
Release date	May 20, 1998 (1998-05-20)
Running time	139 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English French Japanese
Budget	$130 million
Box office	$379 million

Godzilla is a 1998 American science fiction monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. A reimagining of the popular Japanese film monster of the same name, the film focuses on a giant reptilian monster, mutated by nuclear tests in French Polynesia, that migrates to New York City to nest its young. The cast features Matthew Broderick, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn and Jean Reno. The screenplay was written by Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin with the story partially credited to Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, who have written an earlier version of the script that differentiated from Emmerich and Devlin's version significantly but borrowed minor elements from Elliott and Rossio's script. The film is dedicated to the memory of Godzilla franchise producer and creator Tomoyuki Tanaka, who died during the film's production.

The film was a co-production between Centropolis Entertainment and TriStar Pictures, with TriStar distributing theatrically, and Sony Pictures Entertainment for home media. It is the first Godzilla film to be completely filmed and produced by an American studio.

The film premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on May 20, 1998 grossing $136,314,294 in domestic ticket receipts. It earned an additional $242,700,000 through international release to top out at a combined $379,014,294 in gross revenue. Despite its initial commercial success upon release, the film was met with a negative reception from critics and fans alike. The negative reception highlighted by critics included the film's thin script, acting, and directing while fans targeted the film's drastic reinvention of the titular character, which included its radical redesign and departure from the source material. The film was nominated for and won multiple Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Remake or Sequel, but received recognition in the field of computer-generated imagery by winning the Saturn Award for Best Special Effects. Planned sequels were abandoned and an animated series was produced instead. Poor merchandise sales for the film led to a cancellation of a toyline based on the animated series, and resulted in significant financial losses for toy manufacturer Trendmasters, which went out of business soon after.

Despite its initial negative reception, the film developed a small cult following over the years and was even selected for RiffTrax in August 2014. The RiffTrax crew has considered the film to be one of their most requested titles and took to Kickstarter to raise $100,000 in order to secure permission from Sony.

In later years, Emmerich's variation of Godzilla became recognized as a stand-alone character, separate from the Godzilla entity, and was officially renamed from Godzilla to simply "Zilla" by Toho, the character's parent owners.

Plot

Following a Nuclear test in French Polynesia, a lizard's nest is irradiated by the fallout. Decades later, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by an enormous sea creature in the South Pacific, leaving one fisherman alive. Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, an NRC scientist, is recruited by the US government to investigate the incident and sent to Tahiti and Jamaica, where a wrecked village, footprints, and ship are found. Nick collects skin samples believing the creature 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 as the military attempts to kill it but fails in an initial attempt. Nick later collects a blood sample and, after performing a pregnancy test, discovers that the creature reproduces asexually and is collecting food for its offspring. Aspiring journalist, and ex-girlfriend of Nick's, Audrey Timmonds uncovers a tape in his possession containing classified information about the creature. Her superior, Charles Caiman however, declares the tape as his own and broadcasts it on television, revealing the creature's nuclear origins in French Polynesia and its name, "Gojira", but jumbles it up as "Godzilla". Nick is then fired from the operation but is immediately kidnapped by a man named Roaché, who reveals himself to be an agent of the French secret service. He and his colleagues have been keeping close watch on the events and are planning to cover up their country's role in the nuclear testing that spawned Godzilla. Suspecting a nest somewhere in the city, they cooperate with Nick to trace and destroy it.

Following a chase, Godzilla dives into the Hudson River where it is attacked by Navy submarines and sinks to the ocean floor. Nick and Roaché's strike team, followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, find the nest inside Madison Square Garden and locate over 200 eggs. Before getting a chance to destroy them, the eggs suddenly hatch and the baby Godzillas attack the strike team. Nick, Animal, Audrey and Roaché take refuge in the Garden's broadcast booth and send a live news report to alert the military of what will happen if the offspring escape. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before the arena is bombed. The adult Godzilla however, having survived, emerges from the Garden's ruins and chases the four, believing them to be responsible for the deaths of its offsprings. After a chase, they manage to trap Godzilla within the Brooklyn Bridge where it is shot down and killed by the Air Force. The citizens of New York City celebrate after confirming the creature's death.

Meanwhile, back in the Garden's ruins, one egg is revealed to have survived and hatches.

Cast

• Matthew Broderick as Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos
• Jean Reno as Philippe Roaché
• Maria Pitillo as Audrey Timmonds
• Hank Azaria as Victor "Animal" Palotti
• Kevin Dunn as Col. Hicks
• Michael Lerner as Mayor Ebert, a parody of Roger Ebert
• Lorry Goldman as Gene, Mayor Ebert's Aide and a parody of Gene Siskel
• Harry Shearer as Charles Caiman
• Arabella Field as Lucy Palotti
• Vicki Lewis as Dr. Elsie Chapman
• Doug Savant as Sgt. O'Neal
• Malcolm Danare as Dr. Mendel Craven
• Ralph Manza as Fisherman Joe
• Glenn Morshower as Kyle Terrington
• Gary A. Hecker as Creature Vocal Effects
• Frank Welker as Creature Vocal Effects

Production

Development

Stan Winston sculpted a design for de Bont's Godzilla that remained faithful to the look of Toho's Godzilla, but it was not used in the film.

The first talk of an American production of a Godzilla film started in the early 1980s when director Steve Miner received special permission from Toho to produce a 3D feature film titled, Godzilla, King of The Monsters in 3-D. Miner tried to find backers to finance the project, presenting concept art and storyboards from artist William Stout and a full screenplay written by Fred Dekker. Despite igniting some interest in Hollywood, studios were unwilling to gamble on Miner's proposed $30 million budget and the film rights died in 1983.

In 1992, TriStar Pictures acquired 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." Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were tapped to write the script and submitted their final draft in late 1994. Earlier that year, 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 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", culminating in a final showdown on Ellis Island. Stan Winston and his company were employed to do the effects for the film. Winston crafted sculptures of Godzilla, in vein of the classic design, and the rival monster, The Gryphon. De Bont later left the project after TriStar refused to approve his budget of $100–120 million.

Prior to the release of Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on to do Godzilla under the condition they would be able to handle the film "their way." Emmerich and Devlin discarded Elliott and Rossio's script and provided a new script where the Godzilla character in general was rewritten as a whole.

Patrick Tatopoulos was contacted early on by Emmerich and asked to design the new 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, 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 a suit.

Filming

Production began in May 1997, 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 the Hawaiian Islands. The United States Marine Corps participated in the filming of the movie. An actual Marines Reserve pilot, Col. Dwight Schmidt, was the pilot of the plane that "fired" the missiles that killed Godzilla.

Soundtrack

Main article: Godzilla: The Album

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 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.

Release

Marketing

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 chanting, "Here, lizard lizard lizard!" while attempting to trap the monster in a box. Trendmasters manufactured the toys for the film, including the 11-inch tall "Living Godzilla" and the 21-inch tall "Ultimate Godzilla".

Box office

The film premiered in cinemas on May 20, 1998 in wide release throughout the United States for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The film was initially projected to break the four-day Memorial Day long weekend opening record of $90 million (set by The Lost World: Jurassic Park a year earlier). Instead, it grossed $55,726,951 in business showing at 3,310 locations over the four-day weekend. The film Deep Impact opened in second place during that weekend with $19,381,788 in revenue. 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 release, the film opened in 19th place grossing $202,157. For that weekend, Lethal Weapon 4 starring Mel Gibson 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. Internationally, the film took in an additional $242,700,000 in business for a combined worldwide total of $379,014,294. For 1998 as a whole, the film was the ninth highest grossing film domestically and the third-highest grossing film worldwide.

Critical reception

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that only 25% of 74 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 4 out of 10. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 32 based on 23 reviews. In 1999, at the Huntley Hotel Garden Room in Santa Monica, California, the film won Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Supporting Actress for Pitillo and Worst Remake or Sequel. The film was also nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

Critics and journalists criticized the film's attempt at humor, the performances from Matthew Broderick and Maria Pitillo, the Baby Godzilla sequences bearing similarities to Jurassic Park, and that the titular character, despite the film's eponymous title, did not feature or strike any resemblance to Godzilla at all, in character or design. Barbara Shulgasser, writing in The San Francisco Examiner, said in a one star review, "OK. Maybe the special effects are slightly more sophisticated than they were in Jurassic Park, but the techno-stuff is all getting a bit boring. When a movie is nothing but relentless action, there's little chance for dramatic tension to develop." She wrote that the film was "devoid of any discernible plot logic." Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that the film was "an overblown action monstrosity with no surprises, no exhilaration and no thrills... What passes for thrills is a succession of scenes lifted and extended from Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Godzilla, shot mostly from the waist down, steps on cars and strafes the sides of buildings with his tail." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post said the film "neither draws upon our fears nor revels in the original's camp charms. The picture really isn't about anything unless it is the deep pockets and shallow minds of the honchos who begat this colossal bore." She wrote further, "Size vanquishes both substance and subtlety in the overhyped, half-cocked and humorless resurrection of dear old Godzilla. It might well be titled Iguana Get You Sucka." The film however, was not without its supporters. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, wrote that the film was an "An expertly designed theme park ride of a movie that packs nonstop thrills." In a slightly positive fashion, Gary Kamiya of Salon.com commented that "The plot is about as ridiculous as you'd expect, but for the most part its absurdities are tolerable." Joe Leydon of Variety contributed mildly to the positive sentiment by saying "Throughout Godzilla, New York endures the most sustained rainfall in all of movie history. Most of the action takes place at night, but even the daytime scenes unfold under darkly overcast skies, which, of course, makes it all the easier for Emmerich to obscure Godzilla's features for the maximum amount of time to generate the maximum amount of suspense."

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's big-budget lizard-stomps-Manhattan disaster flick has been written with the brain dead in mind. The script isn't just 'dumbed down,' it's lobotomized. Godzilla lives and dies on special effects alone.

—James Berardinelli, writing in ReelViews

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert 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 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 also commented on the parody characters arguing "If you're going to go to the trouble of putting us in a monster movie, why don't you at least take advantage of this by having the monster either eat or squash one of us?" In an entirely negative review, James Berardinelli writing for 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 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?"

In Howard Hawks' The Thing, there is a great scene where scientists in the Arctic spread out to trace the outlines of something mysterious that is buried in the ice, and the camera slowly pulls back to reveal that it is circular — a saucer. In Godzilla, the worm expert is standing in a deep depression, and the camera pulls back to reveal that he is standing in a footprint. Which he would have already known.

—Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times

Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post queried, "The question 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 a wise-cracking news cameraman and superficial reporter; Vicki Lewis of NewsRadio as a lusty scientist. Shall I continue?" However, in a more upbeat tone, 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 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." Film critic Aladino Debert of Variety was consumed with the nature of the special effects exclaiming, "the title creature is wonderfully designed and the animation is excellent." Complimenting the technical aspects of the film, he summarized, "The integration of the lizard into its surroundings is for the most part very well accomplished, with rigged cars collapsing under the massive weight of Godzilla, and buildings either demolished or partially damaged. The compositing of the debris and pyrotechnics is generally good, especially when the monster runs or walks on the streets: The asphalt gives way convincingly every time the massive feet touch the ground, and a variety of CGI elements are seamlessly composited. Debris flies off buildings with every touch of the monster."

Director Emmerich later admitted regretting the film's production, particularly due to the rushed shooting schedule that was required for 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. He also admitted to never liking the original Japanese Godzilla movies.

In later years, producer Devlin admitted to "screwing 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 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 admitted 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 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."

Toho's reaction

Toho's current official trademark for the character.

Veteran Godzilla actors Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma, as well as Shusuke Kaneko (who would later direct Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack), were also critical of the film and its character. Nakajima stated "its face looks like an iguana and its body and limbs look like a frog". Satsuma walked out of the Japanese premiere of the film and commented, "it's not Godzilla, it doesn't have his spirit". The "Godzilla" on the film was considered so different from Toho's Godzilla that the term GINO, "Godzilla In Name Only", was coined by critic Richard Pusateri to distinguish the character apart from Toho's Godzilla. Kaneko pondered on the treatment the character was given by the studio, stating "It is interesting [that] the US version of Godzilla runs about trying to escape missiles... Americans seem unable to accept a creature that cannot be put down by their arms." In 2004, Toho (Godzilla's parent owners) later recognized the creature as a character apart from Godzilla and officially rebranded and retrademarked it as "Zilla" for later appearances. This decision was made by producer Shōgo Tomiyama and Godzilla: Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura because they felt Emmerich's film "took the God out of Godzilla” by portraying the character like a mere animal. The name "Zilla" was chosen for the character by Tomiyama as a satirical take on counterfeit Godzilla products that use "Zilla" as a suffix. The character has since become a part of Toho's Godzilla franchise.

Accolades

The film was nominated and won several awards in 1998–99. Furthermore, it was screened out of competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for multiple Razzie Awards including Worst Picture and Worst Director.

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
19th Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Picture	TriStar Pictures	Nominated
	Worst Supporting Actress	Maria Pitillo	Won
	Worst Remake or Sequel	TriStar Pictures	Won
	Worst Director	Roland Emmerich	Nominated
	Worst Screenplay	Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin	Nominated
	Worst Movie Trends of the Year	Yo quiero tacky tie-ins	Nominated
26th Saturn Awards	Best Special Effects	Volker Engel, Patrick Tatopoulos, Karen E. Goulekas, Clay Pinney	Won
26th Annie Awards	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation	Jerome Chen	Nominated
BMI Film & TV Awards 1999	BMI Film Music Award	David Arnold	Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Award 1999	Favorite Song	Sean Combs	Nominated
Bogey Awards for 1998	Bogey Award in Silver	————	Won
California On Location Awards 1998	Location Team of the Year – Feature	————	Won

Home media

Following its cinematic release in theaters, the Region 1 widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the United States on November 3, 1998. Special features for the DVD include; photo galleries, visual effects and special FX supervisor commentaries, the music video of "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). A Pan and Scan VHS tape was also released on the same day. And a Widescreen tape was released in 1999., a special edition DVD was also released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on March 28, 2006. The DVD contains all of the above features as well as the "All-Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes" featurette, 3 episodes from Godzilla: The Animated Series, and a "never-before-seen" production art gallery.

The widescreen high-definition Blu-ray Disc version of the film was released on November 10, 2009. Special features include the visual effects commentary, the "Behind the Scenes of Godzilla with Charles Caiman" and "All Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes" featurettes, as well as the music video of "Heroes" by The Wallflowers. A supplemental viewing option for the film in the media format of video on demand is available as well.

The film was re-released on Blu-ray 1080p "Mastered in 4K" format on July 16, 2013.

Sequels

Cancelled sequels

TriStar planned to produce a trilogy of Godzilla films upon acquiring the license for Godzilla in 1992. Emmerich and Devlin only went as far as to hire Tab Murphy to write a treatment for a sequel. The sequel would have involved the surviving offspring battling a giant insect in Australia. However, due to the overwhelming negative reception the first film received and a lack of enthusiasm from fans, audiences, theater owners, and licensees, the planned sequels were abandoned and the rights to Godzilla sat on TriStar's shelf until they expired in 2003. Producer Devlin stated that they left the film with an open-ending in case the film's success allowed them to return for sequels.

Animated series

Main article: Godzilla: The Series

An animated series was produced as a continuation of the storyline of the film and aired on Fox from 1998 to 2000. In the series, Dr. Tatopoulos accidentally discovers the egg that survived the aerial bombardment before it hatches, in a minor change from the ending in the 1998 film. The creature hatches after Nick Tatopoulos stumbles onto it as it assumes him as its parent. Subsequently, Dr. Tatopoulos and his associates form a research team, investigating strange occurrences and defending mankind from dangerous mutations. Actor Ian Ziering voiced the character of Dr. Tatopoulos throughout the series.

See also

• 1998 in film
• Godzilla (franchise)
• Godzilla (2014 film)

References

Further reading

• Tsutsui, William (2004). Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6474-8.
• Cerasini, Mark (1998). Godzilla at World's End. Random House Books. ISBN 978-0-679-88827-7.
• Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4749-7.
• Powell, Eric (2011). Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, Vol. 1. IDW Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61377-016-0.
• Ciencin, Scott (1998). Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island. Random House Books. ISBN 978-0-679-88901-4.
• Mamet, David (2008). Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business. Vintage. ISBN 978-1-4000-3444-4.
• Ragone, August (2007). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman and Godzilla. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-6078-7.
• Ito, Michiko (2006). In Godzilla's Footsteps: Japanese Pop Culture Icons on the Global Stage. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6461-8.
• Brothers, Peter (2009). Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4490-2771-1.
• West, Mark (2008). The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture: From Godzilla to Miyazaki. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5121-4.
• Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-348-4.
• Smith, David (2009). Godzilla Is In Purgatory: Featuring the Promise of a Gift for all Humanity. Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-4415-9444-0.
• Bart, Peter (2000). The Gross: The Hits, The Flops: The Summer That Ate Hollywood. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-25391-2.
• Shapiro, Jerome (2001). Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93660-6.
• Lichtenfeld, Eric (2007). Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie. Wesleyan. ISBN 978-0-8195-6801-4.
• Feil, Ken (2006). Dying for a Laugh: Disaster Movies and the Camp Imagination. Wesleyan. ISBN 978-0-8195-6792-5.
• Jess-Cooke, Carolyn (2009). Film Sequels: Theory and Practice from Hollywood to Bollywood. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2603-8.
• Valantin, Jean-Michel (2005). Hollywood, the Pentagon and Washington: The Movies and National Security from World War II to the Present Day. Anthem Press. ISBN 978-1-84331-171-3.
• Matthews, Melvin (2007). Hostile Aliens, Hollywood and Today's News: 1950s Science Fiction Films and 9/11. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-497-6.

External links

• Official website
• Godzilla at IMDb
• Godzilla at AllMovie
• Godzilla at the TCM Movie Database
• Godzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
• Godzilla at Metacritic
• Godzilla at Box Office Mojo