In Defense of Godzilla 1998 (part 1)

by Jerry Peterson

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Tri-Star's Godzilla, and I couldn't let the occasion pass without saying something about one of my favorite versions of Godzilla. This is going to be a multi-part series of articles, as I set about tackling all of the consistent complaints that have plagued this kaiju over the last quarter of a century. I'll be focusing only on Godzilla (G98) himself, because if you ask most people, they'll say the movie overall is okay- it's just the monster they have a problem with. So let's get into it, starting with:

1. It's just Jurassic Park

    Yes, Tri-Star's Godzilla came out in the wake of the first two Jurassic Park movies. And yes, there are a couple of moments that pay homage to Jurassic Park. But generally, when people make this statement, they're criticizing the way G98 carries himself. He doesn't walk upright and drag his tail on the ground like Toho Studio's original Godzilla did over the course of 22 movies, beginning in 1954.

    Instead, his posture is that of a proper theropod. He walks with a horizontal stance and his tail acts as a counterweight, that hovers off the ground. Jurassic Park is credited with destroying the mainstream myth of the T-Rex that walks upright, which had dominated movies since 1918. That was the year that the film, "The Ghost of Slumber Mountain" was released, and audiences were treated to the first ever Tyrannosaurus Rex on the silver screen. For the next 75 years the image of the upright-walking T-Rex would dominate people's imaginations. Even in the same year that Jurassic Park was released, we were still getting depictions of the tail-dragging T-Rex in movies like Carnosaur.

Every Theropod before 1993.

Every Theropod after 1993.

    So when people say that G98 is just Jurassic Park, what they're saying is that he walks like the T-Rexes seen in that movie, and that he's just a regular T-Rex with spines. What they're forgetting though, are those 75 preceding years, where Toho's Godzilla walked exactly like every movie depiction of the T-Rex up to that point. I always felt that Toho's Godzilla would have carried himself horizontally as well, if people in 1954 were aware of how theropods actually balanced and carried themselves. 

    In fact, Toho did attempt to depict their Godzilla's stance more realistically a couple times with varying degrees of success. Monster designer, Shinji Nishikawa’s concept art for the Godzilla-saurus in 1991's "Godzilla vs King Ghidorah" reveals that Toho was open to the idea, though it apparently got nixed by the time cameras rolled. They tried again in 2001's "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack." The Godzilla suit that appears on-screen was to have a horizontal posture, but the suit proved unwilling to cooperate. I imagine if Toho had been able to pull off the horizontal posture for their Godzilla in those movies, that this wouldn't be a sticking point for so many fans.

Nishikawa, S. “Toho's Godzilla-saurus”

[concept art] 1991

   In short, Godzilla has always been a T-Rex with spines. He walked like a theropod, when he was created in 1954 and he still walked like a theropod, when he was reimagined in 1998.The only thing that changed was our understanding of how those dinosaurs actually stood and walked.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Next up: Atomic Breath or Power Breath?

The Last Voyage of Jason Voorhees

By Jerry Peterson

I have a soft spot for the oft-maligned 8^th outing of the Friday the 13^th movies, “Jason Takes Manhattan” (JTM). It takes a non-stop barrage of flak for pulling a bait and switch. Barring a couple brief minutes in Times Square, the movie instead takes place on a boat for the first half, and then in some filthy back alleys, sewers and subways that could be from any city, anywhere for the rest of the runtime.

But I still enjoy this movie, and still watch it regularly. JTM marks the last time that Paramount Pictures would make a Friday the 13^th movie, before selling the rights to New Line Cinema. This is the last one that still feels like a  classic Friday flick, complete with all the cliches the series helped establish.

And also some memorable shots like this

JTM’s place in time is unique. Released on July 28^th of 1989, this wasn’t just the last Friday movie that Paramount would make; it was also the last one made during the 1980s. And as the decade came to a close, there was a palpable sense that the slasher genre of horror movies had also reached its end. In the early 90s, almost all of the major faces of 80s horror were given “final” sendoffs such as Freddy’s Dead in 1991, Jason Goes to Hell in 1993 and Hellraiser: Bloodline in 1996. Instead of seeing sequels every year or every other year, the once great horror titans would go dormant and see only rare, sporadic appearances. Slasher movies had officially gone the way of westerns and musicals.

So aside from JTM’s status as the last Friday the 13^th made by Paramount in the 80s, what makes it special? Despite the change in locale, Jason stalks and kills like usual, and the cramped confines of the rusty ship, Lazarus, make for some interesting and visually claustrophobic settings. 

Writer/director, Rob Hedden, said that he had been given permission to kill off Jason “in a way that makes it feel like he’s really dead and he’s not coming back.” With that in mind, the main character, Rennie, keeps encountering the spirit of a young Jason. He first appears looking like a normal boy but gets progressively more malformed and zombie-like each time she sees him. Ghost Jason keeps crying for help, while also attacking Rennie.

Jason’s soul appears as the boy he was

Young Jason gets progressively deformed

Jason is finally defeated by a tidal wave of toxic waste that reduces him to the normal boy Rennie saw during her first vision. I always took this to mean that somehow the spirit of the innocent boy that Jason had once been, was now free from the monster that he had become. And delivering on Paramount’s request, this death scene was so permanent, that when New Line Cinema took a crack at a sequel with part 9, they didn’t even try to show how Jason came back to life.

Some days, it’s just not worth it, y’know?

That’s one thing I always appreciated about the Paramount Friday movies; despite how fast and loose continuity is between them, there was always a straight line that went through the first 8, connecting them. Heavy use of flashbacks and recaps always get the audience up to speed, so we know exactly where we are upon starting any given movie. Jason is always where we left him in the previous movie. That all stops with part 9. When that movie begins, he’s a full grown adult again, already back to stomping around Crystal Lake. No explanation given. 

On a final note, I have to mention the ending. This is the only time that the last two survivors are able to walk away on their own with no last-second, sequel-baiting jump-scare, no ominous final shot suggesting the rise of a copycat killer, no eerie music, no nothing. For the first and only time ever in Friday the 13^th, we get a happy ending. And as Rennie and her boyfriend walk off into the night, upbeat pop music begins to play. It feels like the movie itself is saying, “Thanks for coming along on the ride all these years.” Despite the fact that New Line Cinema and later Platinum Dunes would try to continue the exploits of Jason Voorhees, it is Friday the 13^th part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, that feels like the true and proper ending to the series to me.