Caleb DowdyProfessor LewandowskiENC 1101November 1, 2009Godzilla New and Old“Gojira” was all the old fisherman said before the vital scan flat lined. Thatwas an excerpt from the movie
Godzilla 1998
; a remake of the original
Godzilla1954
. Some films contain a greatness that the remakes can’t seem to harness;
Godzilla 1998
remade the original excellently if not better. Utilizing a muchimproved plot, script, and better setting and costumes
Godzilla 1998
was vastlyimproved version of the original. The story line of
Godzilla 1998
in comparison to the original is a much morebelievable story. The story line of
Godzilla 1998
was a radiation spill caused aseemingly harmless iguana to horribly mutate, similarly the story line of
Godzilla1954
involved a radiation spill as well but it is how the villagers reacted to thismutated lizard that I find highly unbelievable. The villagers in
Godzilla 1954
fedGodzilla virgin sacrifices making for a highly skeptical solution, where as the townspeople of New York City in
Godzilla 1998
try to fight this giant monster with themilitary a much more sensible solution. As well as having a believable story line,Godzilla 1998 is a much more interesting story featuring a very diverse cast of characters. The characters in
Godzilla 1998
added a new dimension to the filmother than the main feeling of hopelessness. The characters all had differentreasons for being in New York when Godzilla cam and this added a feeling of maybethis was fate that brought us all together producing a very interesting plot. Thecharacters in
Godzilla 1954
are for the most part nameless screaming people givinglittle to no significance to the film.A good plot can be made or broken by the script and dialog between thecharacters.
Godzilla 1954
had dialog that was confusing at times. An example of this confusion is when one of the scientists cuts a cord to the machine that isdestroying Godzilla killing himself as well as Godzilla. This confusion made theoriginal hard to follow when watching because they over elaborated the plot.
Godzilla 1954
had a script that moved to the main point much too quickly leavinglittle to no time for dramatic build up. Within the first ten minutes of
Godzilla 1954
Godzilla sinks and destroys three Japanese fishing boats leaving no time to builddramatic tension. The script in the original Godzilla seemed to jump around fromscene to scene.
Godzilla 1998
had a solid script and this served for a smoothtransition from scene to scene. This solid script provided a sturdy backbone for therest of the story and suited the characters in
Godzilla 1998
very well producingbelievable characters.Finally the last point of comparison between
Godzilla 1954
and
Godzilla 1998
includes the costumes and setting. The costume for “Godzilla” in the originalconsisted of a man in a giant lizard costume stomping around Japan, and kickingover buildings. The Godzilla costume alone makes the original even less believableand it added an unwanted comedic feeling to the movie. The gaudy costume
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