FILM 1833: GODZILLA
TRIVIA: In a television interview, Matthew Broderick said that the entire cast were given wet suits to wear underneath their costumes while filming in Hawaii. He was upset because his wet suit zipped up in the back, which made it difficult to put on every day. One day during a break in filming, he was talking with co-star Hank Azaria, who had his shirt off, revealing a wet suit that zipped up in front. Broderick remarked, "Oh, your wet suit zips up in front." Puzzled, Azaria replied, "They ALL zip up in front." Broderick had been putting his wet suit on backwards every day.
Fruit of the Loom lost their license to sell any Godzilla-related apparel when they leaked images of Godzilla on the Internet in November of 1997. What Fruit of the Loom didn't know was that the images they were given were unique fakes released by the studio as part of an effort to see which companies they could trust to not leak images to the public, as the studio intended to keep Godzilla's appearance a secret until the film opened.
Mayor Ebert and his assistant Gene are spoofs of the late film critics Roger Ebert and his partner Gene Siskel (who would pass away less than a year after the film's release). This is in response to the duo giving negative reviews to Emmerich and Devlin's earlier films Stargate (1994) and Independence Day (1996). The film also co-opted the duo's trademarked "Thumbs Up" gesture from their various television shows by depicting Mayor Ebert's campaign as "Thumbs Up for New York!" and Gene later disapproving of his decision to exploit the disaster by giving him a thumbs down. When the actual Siskel and Ebert reviewed the film on their show, it received two thumbs down and Gene Siskel commented on being spoofed in the film; he said it was "petty" and asked the filmmakers "if you're going to go through the trouble of putting us in a monster movie, why don't you at least take advantage of having the monster either eat or squash us". The duo would later name the film as one of their worst films of 1998.
Halfway through a screening, Kenpachirô Satsuma, who played Godzilla from 1985-1995, walked out, saying "It's not Godzilla. It doesn't have the spirit."
This movie features more Simpson voice actors than any other project besides The Simpsons (1989) itself: Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and Nancy Cartwright. The Simpsons and its creators are huge Godzilla fans and Godzilla, and his roar is used quite frequently in the show.
The film created quite a backlash among the fan base of the original series. The fans conceived a nickname to distinguish this film from the original: G.I.N.O., which is an acronym for "Godzilla in Name Only," indicating their dislike for it.
The policeman seen during Godzilla's arrival is the same policeman (both played by same actor) seen suddenly leaving his patrol car in the middle of an intersection in Independence Day (1996).
Dean Devlin aggressively defended the movie on internet message boards, at times telling the Godzilla fans "to hell with you" if they had a negative opinion over it. The official Godzilla message board was shut down soon thereafter due to all the heated arguing. Years later, Devlin has admitted to recognizing the movie's faults and apologized to the fans in various interviews.
Matthew Broderick's character's name is Dr. Niko Tatopoulos. Godzilla's designer and supervisor is Patrick Tatopoulos.
When this modern remake was first conceived in 1990, James Cameron was originally offered the chance to direct. When he passed, Tim Burton was connected for a few years, with Joe Johnston's name bandied about for some time also. Paul Verhoeven was going to direct but he passed on the project. Then Jan de Bont was attached and set to direct, but his budget for the film, estimated at $150 million, was higher than the studio was willing to pay. After he was let go, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin came in.
Due to the tight deadlines and likely because the monster's look was to be kept secret, the movie wasn't given test screenings. The studio later deemed this a mistake, since this had meant that none of the movie's faults could be fixed for the theatrical release. This was one of the reasons behind the movie's grandiose promotional campaign, since the execs expected the movie to fail without sufficient marketing push.
DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: Roland Emmerich: [44] Cab in final chase sequence is cab MN 44.
