The Return Of Godzilla
Released: 1984
Director: Jared Carpenter
Produced by: Stevie Spielberg
Screenplay by: Griffin Lucas
Screentime: A whopping 4 hours and 31 minutes
Synopis: A reboot/sequel to the original Godzilla movie by the brilliant Ray Harryhausen, The Return Of Godzilla returns the titular character Godzilla back to the big screen after nearly ten years of rest. Three creative minds who childhoods were influenced by the early sixties Godzilla films, Lucas, Spielberg, and Carpenter went to the Harryhausen Institute with a script Lucas had written. Wanting to take advantage of the advance of Superbomb weaponry, the script seek to return to the dark roots of the first Godzilla and to reflect the geopolitical tensions happening between the European, American, and Asian Continents. Intrigued by the script the three men managed to create and enjoying the story they wrote out, the men were given the green light. Given the budget of a whopping 70 million dollars to fund the film, the trio went to work. Many big list actors were recruited to the film, including some foreign actors to reflect the grave international threat Godzilla was. Most famous of the bunch were Kenny Russell, Albert Schwarzenegger, Lee Jun-fan, Sylvester Stallone, Alexandra Weaver, Datuk Fang Shilong, Karrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill. The special effects team was the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop who created the legendary 84 suit, and Industrial Light and Magic handling the special effects and miniatures. The movie set was finally settled in Dakota to take advantage of the open plains of it to help create as large of a miniature set as possible. To play the titular creature Kevin Peter Hall was selected, where his large size would really sell on how gigantic Godzilla was going to be in the film. With everything set, filming commenced.
Synopis: On a fishing trip in the Pacific Ocean, the fishing vessel Lucky Jane captain, played by Harrison Ford, is stuck in a is caught in strong currents off the shores of Daikoku Island. As the boat drifts into shore, the island begins to erupt, and a giant monster lifts itself out of the volcano. A few days later, New York reporter Dang Zhiyuan, played by Lee Jun-fan, is sailing in the area and finds the vessel intact but deserted. As he explores the vessel, he finds all the crew dead except for Hiroshi Okumura, who has been badly wounded. Suddenly a giant
Shockirus sea louse attacks him but he is saved by Okumura. In New York, Zhiyuan realizes by looking at pictures that the monster he saw was a new
Godzilla, larger than the first Godzilla by a whopping fifty meters. Sarah, played by Carrie Fisher, writes an article about the account, but the news of Godzilla's return is kept secret and his article is withheld. Sarah visits Professor Thurgood Elson, played by the late Paul Hubschmid, who experienced the
1954 Godzilla attack and the 1953 Rhedosaur attack. Elson describes Godzilla as a living, invincible nuclear weapon able to cause mass destruction. A German submarine is destroyed in the Pacific. The Germans believe the attack was perpetrated by the Japanese and a diplomatic crisis ensues, which threatens to escalate into
nuclear war. The Americans intervene and reveal that Godzilla was behind the attacks. Taking the issue serious, the nations around the world make preparations for the inevitable attack by Godzilla. A few days he strikes the heart of Tokyo where the military was powerless to stop him before returning back to sea and making is way toward the European continent and striking coastal cities along his path. A brave Australian pilot by the name of Aaron Zenold, played by Mark Hamill, uses his privately own airplane to keep tabs on the beast location with constant updates on the radio and being supported with refills and repairs on his plane when needed. As Godzilla nears the Mediterranean, The German Empire prepares their forces to defend their allies and fatherland from the beast. New military vehicles are revealed like the laser attack tank in order to stop him, but proved fruitlessly as the European military is obliterated in Godzilla's march from Sicily to Berlin. In a act of desperation, a Superbomb is deployed in the open fields before Berlin in a vain attempt of stopping Godzilla. Not only does it rejuvenate the beast, it gave it the needed energy of the day to completely turn Berlin into a field of molten slag and fire before making his way to the English Channel. Seeing the trajectory toward Philadelphia, the new Super X is unveiled, a group project between Superpowers to design a machine that will be able to threaten Godzilla. Hans Zimmer( Albert Schwarzenegger), Duke Buffalo (Sylvester Stallone), and Eiji Tsuburaya (Datuk Fang Shilong) are the finest pilots selected for the program. General Big Boss (Kenny Russell) will do everything to make sure the beast is unsuccessful in his rampage and is killed. Will the nations around the world be able too top Godzilla, or will Godzilla be able to carry out his revenge?
After ten months of filming, shooting was rapped up, went through the editing processed, and released to the world public on November 1, 1984. During the movie's entire production cycle, campaigns for the film which was a million dollar endeavor was sent across the entire globe to hype up the film. The most memorable ad back was planet earth with a footprint on it, the large looming shadow overlooking a crowd of feeling people, or him overlooking the city. Foreign posters made the same attempts in poster quality, like the European poster with the city of Berlin on fire as a large shadow hangs over the Kaiser palace. The Japanese poster was the most interesting, showing the mighty Yamato Battleship sucked to the bottom of the ocean with large deep claw marks on the hull with the subtitle, when translated into English, said "No battleship is powerful enough to stop him." Brand deals were made with many companies to help promote the film, with Doctor Pepper being the most notorious of Godzilla, portrayed by a rather terrible suit, destroying the city before stopping his rampage when finding a Dr. Pepper can to drink. Despite some odd commercials and ads for the film, the sheer power of the cast and the good campaigning played well for the film. The film opened to a strong start, making a amazing 20 million dollar return on the first day, and after its four week run managed to gather a whopping $425 million dollars at the end. Critics and fans praised the film for the story and symbolism of the film, especially Godzilla who represented on how the potential coming Nuclear War will cause a apocalypse that will consume everyone in the wrath and the unexpected ending, Spoilers: Godzilla wins at the end and retreats back into the ocean with one finally roar as Philadelphia burns and the downed Super X Crew watch on. With the immense success of the film, a sequel has been green light, and many forms of books and comic books have been made to fill in the time for now while the next film is being worked out.
Note: I'm opened to any sort of opinions and criticisms. yes I know that Godzilla might have butterflied away maybe, but you know what screw it. I wanted to do this anyway so here you go folks.