‘Godzilla’ Writer Reveals How The Film Went So Wrong

There is no shortage of Godzilla in the world of entertainment. Ever since the creature debuted in 1954, Godzilla has been a fan-favorite with monster lovers, and Japan hasn’t shied away from the beast. Over the years, Toho has created dozens of Godzilla movies, but there is one film fans tend to shun to no end.

Yes, Hollywood’s 1998 take on Godzilla is a no-go for most movie buffs, and its writer is opening up about where the film went wrong.

Recently, SyFy sat down with Dean Devlin to talk about his work with Godzilla, and it was there writer confessed its top flaws. Devlin says a few things came together to stunt the blockbuster, and his lifelong investment with Godzilla makes the flop all the harder to accept.

According to Devlin, Godzilla was doomed almost from the beginning. Yes, TriStar Pictures wanted to bring the creature to the big screen, and Devlin was tasked with overseeing the project. However, the film was not okayed until the writer’s work with director Roland Emmerich on Independence Day became a hit. With the movie making nearly a billion bucks at the box office, TriStar Pictures decided it was time to franchise up Godzilla, but Devlin says that was a poor choice in retrospect.

“There was enormous pressure,” Devlin admitted. “That was probably the biggest problem in making Godzilla, this assumption that it was going to be as big or as original or as strong as Independence Day. I don’t think it ever had that chance.”

As the interview continues, Devlin says production issues marred Godzilla from the start. However, the writer-producer says one of the top problems came about because he was too big of a Godzilla lover.

“I think part of the biggest problem was that I pushed Roland into doing the movie because I was a huge Godzilla fan,” Devlin explained.

“I grew up with Godzilla and it wasn’t something that Roland had grown up with. He didn’t have a giant passion about Godzilla. He was able to find a story with me that he could get passionate about and he was passionate about the movie we made, but this was his take on it as opposed to honoring the Godzilla legacy in a way that would make the people who loved Godzilla happy.”

Godzilla fanatics have often critiqued the movie for its unattractive take on the monster. The creature seen in the 1998 film looked nothing like the original Godzilla it was meant to adapt, and its actions didn’t align with the monster. Still today, people say the Godzilla feature came off more like a Jurassic Park rip-off, and it quickly faded into flopped obscurity. Still, Devlin says there’s something intriguing about the movie though most of its critiques were correctly made.

“I think in one regard it was judged overly harshly and in another regard, we didn’t live up to what we needed to do in taking on something as iconic as Godzilla,” Devlin said, nodding to the film’s infamous reputation. “Some of it was our failings and some of it was a perception problem. When people see the movie now where they have very low expectations that they tend to go, oh, that movie’s actually pretty good.”

What do you make of the 1998 blockbuster twenty years later? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!