Godzilla [Blu-ray] Review
THE MOVIE
I will admit, THIS Godzilla is one of my favorite 'thoughtless entertainment' movies. The kind I watch when I'm exhausted and all I want is to relax with a cocktail or a cup of cappuccino and not worry about world peace or possible cosmic disasters for a while. Sure, it's not the Japanese Godzilla - it's an American movie after all - but I can't see why we shouldn't have our own Godzilla the same way the Japanese can have their own baseball and rock and roll.
I will not do a full critique of the movie - there are hundreds of excellent reviews published already so I am going to be brief. I will only state that I love Godzilla because:
- it has Matthew Broderick (Bueller?)
- it has Jean Reno (The Specialist, The DaVinci Code)
- it has (a lot of) humor
- it has most excellent visual effects, quite impressive even by 2009 standards
- it has one of the better sound tracks in a monster movie
Sure, it's not the Japanese Godzilla but, come to think of it, the Japanese Godzilla has none of the above.
THE BLU-RAY RELEASE
Of course, it's 1080p and it's an easy to notice improvement over the DVD release - I've bought both the VHS and the DVD releases prior to this one. More impressive than the picture is the sound track. The DTS-HD Master Audio it's literally a blast. It will rock your house with the proper sub-woofer.
The extras are mostly those found on the DVD edition but there are a couple of Blu-specific additions.
The Godzilla trivia game is actually fun - multiple-choice where the time it takes to pick the answer is factored into the score. A multi-player option is available for players with an Internet connection. To my surprise, this actually worked and I could play Godzilla trivia online with someone who was trying out this exotic feature at the same time I was.
The Movie-IQ option is another BD-Live powered option. It checks some online database and provides up-to-date information about the movie while watching the movie. I immediately learned, while watching the movie, that Godzilla grossed 0 million and it was released in 1998 and that, since its release in 1954 there have been 28 Godzilla/GOJIRA movies.
BD-Live also facilitated the printing of a ticket for the '2012' movie (up to ). Be VERY careful and do NOT throw away the wrapping. The back of the sticker has a code that, when typed in in a BD-Live session will have Sony email you a PDF that can be printed and becomes a 'ticket' that's valid until Dec. 31 2009.
Finally, the disk - not a second disk - includes a digital copy for the PSP. You first copy it to your PS3 hard drive and then you download it from there to the PSP - it comes with full instructions on how to proceed.
MY RATING
5 stars as a movie and 5 stars as a Blu-ray release. If you happen to own a PS3 and a PSP and you happen to want to watch '2012' before the end of 2009 this is an incredible bargain.
Godzilla [Blu-ray] Overview
No description available for this title.
Item Type: BLU-RAY DVD Movie
Item Rating: PG13
Street Date: 11/10/09
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve
Godzilla [Blu-ray] Specifications
As "gigantic monster reptile attacks New York" movies go, you've got to admit that Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. There's really no other way to approach it--you just have to accept the fact that Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are unapologetic plagiarists, incapable of anything more than mindless spectacle that can play in any cinema in the world without dubbing or subtitles. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s; it's little more than a rehash of the Jurassic Park movies. The derivative script is so trivial that it's unworthy of comment, apart from a few choice laughs and the casting of Michael Lerner as New York's mayor, whose name is Ebert and who closely resembles a certain well-known movie critic. Perhaps that's a clever hint that this movie's essentially critic-proof. It's stupid but it's fun, and for most audiences that's a fitting definition of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. --Jeff Shannon
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