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Godzilla, King of the MonstersRating:
Release Date: 17 September, 2002 Retail Price: $7.98 OUR Price: $7.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (5 total) |
Godzilla, King of the Monsters Reviews
The Original (?) Butcher Job
I can recall the awe I felt when seeing "Godzilla" for the first time as a young child; I had nightmares about the giant beast walking through the streets of my neighborhood. I dreamt I was hiding from the stomping feet of the great lizard. Of course, I didn't really know what good filmmaking was in those days.
The one good thing about any version of the original Godzilla is the amazing roar the creature produced - is there anything else like it? Who could forget the great blast of sound that shook an entire city, and became the legendary voice of the great beast? Whether one likes the Godzilla films or not, all know that sound...
The Americanized version of "Godzilla" seems to suck the life right out of the film. Raymond Burr's inserted scenes mostly consist of reaction shots with a blank look on his face - and there are many of them. Then there is the obvious difference in film stock quality: the original Japanese scenes are grayer and of poor quality, the American scenes of far better quality. The English dubbing for the Japanese characters is plain laughable; it is clear they are not really talking about the same thing the dubbing indicates! Due to this fact, many scenes in the film seem to make no sense whatsoever.
I recently saw the film on the AMC cable channel, and found myself wishing I could see the original version in Japanese with subtitles - fortunately a restored DVD with both the Raymond Burr scenes and the original Japanese version will soon be available. At last, Godzilla will be seen the way he should be.
Alas, 3 stars is all I can muster for the butchered American version of this classic.
Lots of Fun!
If you enjoy Godzilla movies, and I do, then this is a must have. I have not seen the restored original but I hope to do so soon. What makes this so well done is the cutting and editing that was done to make Raymond Burr's character actually part of the movie. This was the version I saw as a kid in the theatre on a Saturday afternoon and I still love it. Give yourself a treat and watch it.
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