'98 Godzilla made a ton of money.
--However, the owners of "Godzilla" hated it.
--Most old fans hated it.
--Critics hated it.
--The people who worked on it lost professional credibility.
--And the company who'd made GREAT profits on releasing toys of the
classic versions went under soon after taking a hit on the
new version not selling for crap.
(Read: No long-term new "fans", just disenfranchised old ones).
Is that a "success", or a case of MASSIVE, OVER-SATURATIVE ADVERTISING reeling in a bunch of newbies while ALSO reeling in fans by using a HOUSEHOLD name?
Godzilla 98 making money was due to "trickery", not because it was a good movie. So, despite my feelings of nostalgia, i agree the old ones did suck somewhat... but when a company pawns something off as something it's not, spending millions to do so and trick the entire world into seeing it... I get pissed.
As for godzilla 98 being an approach at "being more serious"... dude, it was the lack of seriousness that murdered it.
I threw up when I saw the leaked character design. But seeing it in action, I then LOVED that Godzilla in a different way than the original.
So why'd I and most others hate Godzilla 98?
The movie itself didn't know what it was.
It said "Godzilla", but he wasn't Godzilla.
The creature was well animated, more realistic, and physically more logical... but the BAD actors, with all their little one-liners and the constant dropping of pop culture references didn't jive.
If the "human aspect" of godzilla 98 had matched the serious new rendition of the creature, it would've been a GREAT movie.
That didn't happen.
And since elements seen in the leaked Transformers script seem to mostly be spot-on, it appears that Transformers is going the same way.
The movie itself doesn't know what it is.
It says "transformers" but they're not them.
The robots will be well animated, with a more serious approach to their physical transformations... but the BAD actors, with all their little one-liners and the constant dropping of pop culture references won't jive.
Oh, but I haven't seen the movie yet. I can't know that that's truly how it'll be, right?
Bullshit.
The script has thus far closely matched what has been released.
Likewise, if one reads the Godzilla 98 script, it is QUITE clear what to expect in the movie.
Anyway, slightly off-topic, ...Is it illegal to kick people in the nuts who say movies that make good financial returns MUST be "good"?
Seriously, Godzilla, probably like transformers will, made alot of money
(initially) due to HEAVY marketing and household name recognition.
But it DID also suck.
Shadowman
Post Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:33 pm
EDIT:
Sorry, I didn't quite specify:
Three people just made large posts about why they should've made a sequel to a series most Americans aren't familiar with.
Very good. You're saying "Godzilla" wasn't an instantly-recognizable, generation-spanning household name over many decades. You're right. Keep up the good work.
And by that, I actually mean, "WHAT in the holy HELL?"