2 of 6

No

Write now Article Tools

I think I could guarantee that this movie wouldn't have been any more successful if it had been called anything else. Calling it Godzilla, it's obvious the studios were trying to sell this movie to an audience that already existed but they just didn't seem to go about it the right way.

It was the era of Hollywood that following the success of the disaster movies i.e. Deep Impact, Armageddon and Volcano to name a few and riding on the success of Stargate and Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich either took too much on or just didn't know what he was doing when he attempted this huge task. Like a band who try to follow up the success of their break-through album, he returned to the studio and recorded something he thought the fans would want to hear but this strained and poorly executed attempt never managed to hit the mark for a number of reasons.

The cast being a good starting point. Hank Azaria, although not the lead, is the only actor to shine through in his role but the rest of the casting was very poor. Mathew Broderick is hardly the rough and ready tough guy you would expect in the lead role of Dr Niko Tatopoulos. Bumbling his way through the film, he encounters Jean Reno as the mysterious if not stereotypical, Philippe Roache, the "foreign bad-guy" who plays this token role to his best abilities. Maria Pitillo barely commands attention when on screen as Broderick's love interest. And of course there is the eponymous star.....

Following a little research I found that there was major uproar from hardcore Godzilla fans at the fact that the studios had decided to change the design of the monster for the release of the remake. A lot of us do fear change but doesn't everything need a make over from time to time? One of the better moves Emmerich made was opting for CGI effects as opposed to some guy in a suit trampling on model buildings. Admittedly the Power Rangers were still getting away with this around the same time but they only had to entertain kids. The special effects were in fact one of the best things about this movie. If you add in the soundtrack as another plus point then you could see the makers were making somewhat of an effort.

However, Emmerich's short sightedness on channelling his focus on the visul effects and sound side-tracked him from picking up on the other major flaws of the movie. Aswell as the weak cast, a loose script and a plot with so many holes in even Godzilla could have tripped up in them, this movie was destined not to be the monster everyone had hoped for. Regardless of the name, the ingredients to a successful movie are a lot more than just a big budget.

Learn more about this author, Andrew M Luke.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Would the movie 'Godzilla' have been more successful with a different name??
We want to hear your view. Write now!