A lot of bad things happened in 1998. El Nino. Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. TITANIC. Another was the American remake of one of Japan’s most well-known export: GODZILLA. The movie looked cool to me when I first saw it (I was 13, guys! Come on!), but looking back on it, the New Year’s teaser and teases of the big reveal on Entertainment Tonight were the only good things going for the film. Matthew Broderick was no longer the cool Ferris Bueller, and Jean Reno was doing Elvis impersonations. As you’d expect, the backlash hit hard, even with the hint of a sequel and the box office success.
Now, in preparation for the release of Universal’s KING KONG to DVD in March, Sony has jumped on the bandwagon with the impending release of GODZILLA: Monster Edition, which hits March 28th. The film, directed by Roland Emmerich (who also directed the 1996 summer blockbuster (and plothole-ridden) INDEPENDENCE DAY, stars Broderick, Reno and Chief Wiggum himself, Hank Azaria. The full specs haven’t been revealed as of yet, though DVDActive reports that it’s confirmed that the DVD will sport a new feature on the “Best of” Godzilla fight scenes, and three animated episodes from the GODZILLA cartoon series.
Speaking of the animated show, there will also be two DVDs consisting of 3 episodes each from the series available on March 28th. Like the big screen version of the film, no other specs were available at the present time. The artwork for all three releases was available, and from the looks of the Monster Edition art, it did away with Godzilla’s radioactive eye in favour of Godzilla having stared at the sun too long, with Broderick and company looking like they want to shoot themselves. Enjoy!