Godzilla Blu-ray delivers great video and reference-quality audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
The original radioactively mutated, giant lizard is back in all his flame-snorting, city-stomping
glory - bigger, better and badder than ever before! An earth-shattering explosion rocks the
French Polynesian Islands, and a nearby supertanker is swiftly and inexplicably destroyed. Was
an explosion — or something far more horrifying — responsible for the devastation? The giant
footsteps trailing from the wreckage seem to provide the answer. Soon the newly awakened
monster is leaving a mysterious trail of carnage in its wake as it cuts through miles of
Panamanian forests, heading directly to a small, densely populated island... Manhattan. It's up
to two teams of investigators, each with their own agenda - headed by nuclear scientist Nick
Tatapoulos and aspiring reporter Audrey Timmonds - to band together to discover the secret of
Godzilla ...and determine the only way to stop him.
All the king's horses and all the king's men may not be able to put the Big Apple together
again.
Only one word can adequately describe Director Roland Emmerich's Disaster movies: "spectacle."
Love his movies or despise them, Emmerich's pictures never fail to provide the latest in visual and
sound technology; big action sequences; massive destruction of landmarks; lots of noise; and most
importantly, a popcorn-munching good time. Whether Independence Day, The Day After
Tomorrow, or Godzilla, Emmerich strives not for Shakespearean poetry in his
dialogue or Hitchcockian visuals to accentuate mood and atmosphere; instead, he goes for the
jugular, bombarding the visual and aural senses with an onslaught of effects-laden visuals and
sound combined with corny dialogue and over-the-top plot lines and devices, and that's just
fine. Escapist entertainment is just as important as film-as-high-art, and nobody fills that niche
better than Roland Emmerich.
Talk about bad breath.
Scientist Niko Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick, Glory) is recalled
from
Chernobyl to study large and mysterious footprints in both Panama and Jamaica, while
simultaneously comparing notes against the choppy accounts that claim a large creature known
as
"Godzilla" has been capsizing fishing boats around the world. Before he can offer anything but
conjecture, "Godzilla" -- a stories-tall creature that resembles a dinosaur -- rudely emerges from
the
waters off of New York City and promptly lays waste to the Big Apple. With the city under threat
of
total annihilation, Tatopoulos is flown in to work in conjunction with the U.S. military to stop
the creature before it's too late. Meanwhile, Tatopoulos' ex-girlfriend, Audrey (Maria Pitillo), a city
reporter looking for her big break, rekindles her relationship with Niko but must choose between
her
man or her career, a decision that could impact the fate of both the city and the world.
Among Director Roland Emmerich's Disaster pictures, Godzilla may very well be the
worst, but it's still not a bad picture based solely on what it sets out to accomplish. Needless to
say, a paltry story doesn't help, but the film's highly generalized wave of
destruction has a "been there, done that" feel to it, even if it does play as bigger, better, and
louder than any of the Godzilla films before it. Fortunately, the film's downfall is also its saving
grace. The story -- good, bad, or indifferent -- is completely irrelevant when it comes to a movie
like
Godzilla. The 139-minute movie, whittled down to one line ("monster ravages New York
City"), can get away with shallow characters, poor dialogue, stretched logic, useless humor, and
worthless background information because they simply can't -- and don't have to -- compete with
the spectacle of a creature laying waste to the city's landmarks in rapid succession. The plot need
only be strong enough to get the movie from one disaster scene to the next, and in that regard,
Godzilla succeeds.
Nevertheless, Godzilla serves up a few extras meant to compliment the onslaught of
destruction and lighten the load throughout, and as one might expect, there are both hits and
misses scattered throughout the film. Godzilla sets up two characters solely to poke fun
at film
critic Roger Ebert and his late companion, Gene Siskel, in what is easily the film's most
groan-inducing plot line. It fares little better than something out of Disaster Movie, and
it's about as sophomoric, too. In a film where absolutely everything is contrived, the "Mayor
Ebert"
plot line is the worst offender. On the other hand, Godzilla features a nice little homage
to Creature Disaster pictures of the past with a clip from It Came From Beneath the
Sea playing on a television set. Small nuances like that add a nice touch and reward
genre fans, and it's one moment where Godzilla will have lovers and haters alike smiling
at the attention to detail and respect for the genre.
While words like "worst," "paltry," and "contrived" might make it sound like Godzilla is
a terrible movie, it's important to analyze a film like this in context and give
credit where credit it due. As alluded to before, Roland Emmerich films don't set out to win
Oscars (except, perhaps, for sound design and special effects), so it's unfair to directly compare
them to something they don't strive to compete with. On its own merits, Godzilla makes
for a decent enough popcorn-crunching good time at the movies. It's no Independence
Day, but the film's effects-heavy visuals and devastating sound design do a marvelous job of
capturing the intended spirit of the film. Simply stated, Godzilla is an amusement
park ride come to life on the big screen and a fine example of escapism entertainment that relies
on grandiose technical achievements to wow audiences. Though its effects might look dated
more than 10 years after its theatrical release, Godzilla's sound design remains
impressive, and together, they make the movie a fun ride for those willing to suspend disbelief
and give it a chance.
Godzilla surfaces on Blu-ray with a quality 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. There's no
doubt the visual presentation plays second fiddle to the devastating soundtrack (more on that
below), but this is a solid technical presentation in its own right. Godzilla is a fairly dark
and dreary film; the primary action takes place at night and in the driving rain, and many interior
locations feature low lighting levels, all of which keeps the transfer from offering a sparkling array
of colors or all that much in visibly intricate detail. The early Panama scenes probably fare the
best; the dry, daylight, exterior shots feature a good sense of depth, solid detail, and nice color
reproduction, particularly amongst the green grasses that are so prevalent in the sequence.
Though some backgrounds look a bit undefined, clarity and sharpness are solid, too. A few colors
do stand out nicely in the rain-soaked and darkened New York City shots, for instance yellow cabs
and forklifts and the red, white, and blue of an American flag against a gray and dreary
distant New York skyline. Even underneath the precipitation and darkness, general imagery
appears nicely detailed, whether close-ups of faces, rain dripping off of camouflaged parkas, or the
texture on paved streets and manhole covers. Blacks are fairly strong, and flesh tones look solid
underneath the thick veneer of darkness. Accompanied by a layer of grain, Godzilla isn't
the stuff of high definition visual bliss, but it looks good for what it has to offer.
Godzilla stomps onto Blu-ray with a hard-hitting DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack.
Want
volume? Godzilla's got volume. Want bass? Godzilla's got bass -- enough to
shake
the house down. This is the sort of soundtrack that defies description and is much better
experienced first hand than read about second hand, but suffice it to say, this is a devastating,
room-shaking, speaker-blowing, brain-scrambling soundtrack. Even at more than 10 years old,
Godzilla is still one of the standard-bearers for ridiculously aggressive, terribly powerful,
yet crystal-clear and highly entertaining sound mixes.
Early in the film, thunder and rain explode through the soundstage, and from the monster's first
attack on a fishing vessel onward, there's no mistaking that this is anything but a surround
sound and bass-happy
extravaganza. It seems almost pointless to mention specifics, because this one rarely lets up in
its ability to create a large and seamless sense of space, make fantastic use of the surround
channels, and deliver consistently tight and devastating bass. The subtle downpour
that accentuates most every exterior scene, the reverberating thuds as the creature stomps
through the city, the din of heavy artillery and gunfire, or Godzilla's deafening screams travel
through the soundstage and into the ear drums to almost punishing effect. This may be too
much for some listeners at reference volume, but a slight decrease in volume doesn't too terribly
adversely affect the quality of the listen. Also featuring solid dialogue reproduction that doesn't
really become muffled or lost under the rain and bass, Godzilla makes for a
so-loud-it's-silly listen on Blu-ray.
This Blu-ray release of Godzilla, unfortunately, doesn't come with a monstrous selection
of extras. First up is a commentary track with Visual Effects Supervisor Volker Engel and
Associate Visual Effects Supervisor Karen Goulekas. A nuts-and-bolts technical track, the two do
a fine job of covering a nice spectrum of effects-related comments but also delve into more basic
items such as shooting locations. Fans interested in digital effects might want to give this one a
listen, but general audiences might want to spend their time with other endeavors. The
Ultimate 'Godzilla' Multi-Player Trivia Game provides players (single or multi) with either 10,
15, or 20 multiple choice Godzilla-based questions, with a 15-second time limit for each
answer.
Behind the Scenes of 'Godzilla' With Charles Caiman (480p, 6:58) is a generic
behind-the-scenes piece hosted by movie character Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer) that
features cast
and crew discussing the film, the characters, the special effects, and more. Next up is All
Time Best of 'Godzilla' Fight Scenes (480p, 10:14), a compilation piece that features the
famed creature as seen in various other films. Also included is the "Heroes" Music Video by The
Wallflowers (480p, 4:11); BD-Live functionality; Sony's "MovieIQ" that offers live, up-to-date
details about
every scene, including cast and crew filmographies and biographies, soundtrack listings, and
more;
a special sneak peak of the upcoming Roland Emmerich-directed 2012 (1080p, 2:32);
and 1080p trailers for Ghostbusters, The Da Vinci Code,
Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, Year One, The Sky Crawlers,
and
Monster House.
Also included is Sony's new on-disc digital copy that allows for transfer from a PlayStation 3 (PS3)
to a PlayStation Portable (PSP). The digital copy's
icon appears below the movie's icon on the PS3 XMB (Xross Menu Bar) and is accompanied by a
written reminder that the digital copy must be redeemed by 11/3/10 and is not available on
rental discs. Clicking on the icon signs users into the PlayStation Network where a prompt to
enter the included code appears on-screen. Following code entry, the digital copy is transferred to
the PS3 hard drive. Once the process is complete, an icon for the film will again appear under the
"video" tab of the XMB. To transfer to the PSP, highlight the digital copy's icon, press the
"option" (green triangle) key on the remote, and scroll to "copy." From there, users will be
prompted to connect the PSP to the PS3 via a USB cable, and then to select "USB Connection"
from the PSP's "Settings" menu in the XMB. Once the PSP is connected, users may need to
once again select "copy" under the digital copy's "options" screen on the PS3 to begin the
transfer. Once the
transfer is complete, the film will appear under the "Video" tab of the PSP's XMB. When the
movie plays, the "X" button and "start" button both pause the film; the "circle" button and the
"select" button return users to the XMB; the "triangle" button reveals a series of options;
the "square" button reveals a menu to select scenes from the film at either 15 second, 30
second, one minute, two minute, or five minute intervals; the "left" and "right" arrow keys on
the directional pad fast forward and reverse the film in increments of 1x, 2x, and 3x speeds; the
"up" and "down" arrows on the directional pad increase and decrease the playback speed from a
range of 0.5x speed to 2.0x speed; and the "left" and "right" shoulder buttons serve as chapter
skips, though there are no set chapters here, and the "left" button only returns the film to the
beginning. These PSP digital copies are quickly proving themselves superior to those compatible
with the iPod. Godzilla is a film primed to look poor via digital copy considering the
darkness and haze that surrounds most of the major sequences, but it looks quite good on the
PSP Go. Banding and blocking are kept to a minimum, even in the darkest corners of the screen.
Color reproduction is good, and detail is nicely rendered. The soundtrack is sufficiently loud to
enjoy in a quiet setting without the assistance of headphones, and while range is expectedly
limited,
clarity is decent. The headphones allow for more space and volume, and while the track certainly
doesn't hold a candle to the Blu-ray presentation, it's a nice alternative for on-the-go viewing.
They don't come much bigger and louder than Godzilla. Though not the special effects
spectacle it once was, Roland Emmerich's Creature Disaster movie remains a severely flawed but
thoroughly
entertaining popcorn movie that might be the sort of thing that's nominated for Razzie awards
(several, in fact) but
it's also the sort of thing people go to see in droves. At the end of the day, it's just fine for what it
is and wants to be, and in that light, Godzilla is a success on its own playing field. Sony's
Blu-ray release delivers a strong 1080p transfer, a knockout of a lossless soundtrack, and a few
throwaway extras. Recommended for fans of the film, noise, and bass.
Beginning with the November 10th Blu-ray releases of 'Godzilla' and 'The Ugly
Truth', Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will include a digital copy especially
for the PSP on select Blu-ray disc releases. The announcement comes just
days before the release ...
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that it will bring the 1998 version of 'Godzilla' on Blu-ray on November 3, tying in with the theatrical opening of Roland Emmerich's latest disaster movie, '2012'. As a major catalog title, this include Sony's new ...
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has confirmed that they will bring the 1998 version of 'Godzilla' to Blu-ray on March 28th in a "Monster Edition". Video will be presented in 1080p accompanied by a PCM soundtrack. Extras will include a featurette, a music video ...
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