Just finished watching my new VCD of the original Japanese Godzilla 2000, and I have to say that I like it better than the American release version.
But that’s not hard to do.
The American release just had bad voice acting, and the changes to the script(‘Shit through a goose’) just made it worse. Other than that it seemed exactly alike. I’ve been told that there are an additional 8 minutes in the original release. But I don’t remember the US on that well to know where they were added.
But on to a review….sorta.This was the first Godzilla movie to be released since the US version with Matt Broderick and Jean Renou. Because of this, or maybe not btu who knows, you could see some sililarities between the two movies. The eye close-ups and the swimming scene are the main ones that come to mind. And the Japanese added some digital effects for scenes that traditionally didn’t have those effects. And let’s face it, they really shouldn’t have. The Japanese aren’t good at that sort of thing. At least when it comes to Godzilla movies. They should really stick to what they know; little tanks, rubber suites, random explosions and sparklers. They have a flare for it. So, dump the digital effect budget and put it in the little tank budget. All will be better. Besides, it makes for a more interesting film making experience. WIth digital effects, if the scene where Godzilla steps on a bunch of little tanks goes wrong, you can just re-edit and re-render the scene. In real life, there are only a finite amount of little tanks that Godzilla can step on. Once those are gone, you have to delay the movie while some schmo in a garage somewhere makes more of them. Not to mention the explosions on the Godzilla suite. Some of those are really close to the guys crotch. If those go wrong….well, a lot of things can go wrong.
So in a nutshell, I liked the original better. But I still think the Japanese should move away from the American influence and just do their own thing. They’ve been doing it for a long time, and they do it well.
I can’t wait to watch the others to see how much better they are in comparison to this one.
That, and one day I hope to get my hands on the newest one, MechaGodzilla!
Some day…..

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Filed under: Blog - @ February 9, 2003 12:00 pm