Toho wasn't a fan of the 1998 Godzilla movie, and it showed in the Godzilla films that followed. Directed by Roland Emmerich, Sony and TriStar's Godzilla provided a whole new take on the King of the Monsters. Upon its release, the movie performed fairly well, with a box office haul of $379 million against a $125 million budget.
Starring Matthew Broderick, Godzilla reimagined the fan-favorite kaiju as a giant, iguana-like creature who was only a fraction of the size of the traditional Godzilla. As an American adaptation, the story took place in New York rather than Tokyo. The movie dealt with the American government and military mounting an effort to put a stop to the monster's rampage. At the end of the film, Godzilla is killed by torpedoes, and then it's revealed that one of his offspring survived, which served as setup for a potential sequel. There were originally plans for a Godzilla trilogy following the release of the 1998 movie, but those plans never materialized.
As the first Hollywood adaptation of the Japanese pop culture sensation, there was a lot of interest surrounding how an American Godzilla movie would turn out. Though it wasn't a box office failure, reception to the movie was overwhelmingly negative, with the Godzilla fanbase being particularly critical of the film's interpretation of the titular monster. Godzilla fans were far from pleased with the changes made to the character, and how different it looked from what was expected. But what did Toho, the studio that gave birth to Godzilla, think about the movie and how did they react to it?
What Toho & Godzilla Filmmakers Thought About The 1998 Movie
Toho allowed Sony Pictures to make a Godzilla movie, but weren't happy with the result. Since Toho were distributors of the film in Japan, the company expressed some degree of for the film while it was being marketed, but their position on the movie seems to have changed over time. Studio representatives have since expressed their strong disapproval of the 1998 Godzilla movie and what it did to Godzilla's image (via SciFi Japan). Toho publicist Yosuke Ogura acknowledged that Sony's Godzilla design was a "disaster".
Actors, directors, and producers associated with Toho's Godzilla movies have made their opinions about the 1998 version quite clear. Shogo Tomiyama, who has produced over a dozen movies for Toho (many of which being in the Godzilla franchise), claimed that the film "took the 'God' out of Godzilla". Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, who has been making movies with Toho since 1971, famously stormed out of the 1998 Godzilla's Tokyo premiere and said that the new monster didn't have Godzilla's spirit. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: All Out Monsters Attack director Shusuke Kaneko criticized the creature's iguana-inspired design and ridiculed the ease and lack of creativity that went into Godzilla's defeat.
These opinions about the 1998 Godzilla film can be explained by how much Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin's vision for Godzilla differed from the original concept. They wanted to portray him as an animal and not a monster, and this approach has a lot to do with what Toho and past Godzilla filmmakers didn't like about the changes to the character. The new movie radically altered his design and made him considerably weaker. Godzilla no longer had the feel of an unstoppable force, and this goes against past depictions of the character.
The 1998 Movie Inspired Toho To Make More Godzilla Movies
The negative response to the 1998 film led to an increasingly high demand from the fanbase for Toho to resume making Godzilla movies. Toho hadn't made a Godzilla film since its last series of films ended in 1995 with Godzilla's death in Mechagodzilla.
Toho's new Godzilla stayed close to the original design, but gave him new purple spikes and red atomic breath. Godzilla 2000 director Takao Okara talked about the new Godzilla and compared it to the original version. According to Okara, it was decided that in order to "show the proper Godzilla" the movie had to bring back the core essence of his character, which was his "indestructibility". Okara felt that this was missing in the American version, and it's true that the 1998 movie did indeed abandon this element, not to mention many other aspects of the character. This is why it was so important for Toho to make certain that the Millennium series honored what so many fans loved about the classic Godzilla, and wanted to forget about 1998 movie.
Toho Brought Back The 1998 Godzilla For Final Wars
As previously stated, Sony's Godzilla never got a sequel, but the monster did get one more live-action appearance, thanks to the final installment in the Millennium series, Godzilla: Final Wars. After discovering that it was possible to use Sony's version of the character, Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamara found a way to insert him into the movie. The 1998 Godzilla is revealed to be one of the monsters who challenges the real Godzilla, though his name is never mentioned. Godzilla, who towers over his American counterpart, effortless disposes of the creature with a tail smack, and finishes him off with his atomic breath. The villain controlling him responds to his defeat by referring to him as "useless".
Curiously, marketing material for the movie called the '98 Godzilla "Zilla", which was taken as another dig at the movie. The reason for the name change reflects Tomiyama's remarks about it taking "the 'God' out of Godzilla". The monster has recurred in Godzilla comics, and is consistently labeled as "Zilla", which suggests that in a way, Toho has retconned the 1998 Godzilla into an entirely different monster. The way that Godzilla: Final Wars and the comic books have treated the character is a blistering insult to the 1998 film, and a clear sign that Toho doesn't regard the 1998 Godzilla as the King of the Monsters. It would appear that to them, he's just a giant lizard.
