5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
A giant, reptilian monster descends upon New York, and it's up to the Army and an odd team of investigators to save their city.
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin DunnAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 72% |
Thriller | 37% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy (on disc)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
All the king's horses and all the king's men may not be able to put the Big Apple together
again.
Only one word can adequately describe Director Roland Emmerich's Disaster movies: "spectacle."
Love his movies or despise them, Emmerich's pictures never fail to provide the latest in visual and
sound technology; big action sequences; massive destruction of landmarks; lots of noise; and most
importantly, a popcorn-munching good time. Whether Independence Day, The Day After
Tomorrow, or Godzilla, Emmerich strives not for Shakespearean poetry in his
dialogue or Hitchcockian visuals to accentuate mood and atmosphere; instead, he goes for the
jugular, bombarding the visual and aural senses with an onslaught of effects-laden visuals and
sound combined with corny dialogue and over-the-top plot lines and devices, and that's just
fine. Escapist entertainment is just as important as film-as-high-art, and nobody fills that niche
better than Roland Emmerich.
Talk about bad breath.
Godzilla surfaces on Blu-ray with a quality 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. There's no doubt the visual presentation plays second fiddle to the devastating soundtrack (more on that below), but this is a solid technical presentation in its own right. Godzilla is a fairly dark and dreary film; the primary action takes place at night and in the driving rain, and many interior locations feature low lighting levels, all of which keeps the transfer from offering a sparkling array of colors or all that much in visibly intricate detail. The early Panama scenes probably fare the best; the dry, daylight, exterior shots feature a good sense of depth, solid detail, and nice color reproduction, particularly amongst the green grasses that are so prevalent in the sequence. Though some backgrounds look a bit undefined, clarity and sharpness are solid, too. A few colors do stand out nicely in the rain-soaked and darkened New York City shots, for instance yellow cabs and forklifts and the red, white, and blue of an American flag against a gray and dreary distant New York skyline. Even underneath the precipitation and darkness, general imagery appears nicely detailed, whether close-ups of faces, rain dripping off of camouflaged parkas, or the texture on paved streets and manhole covers. Blacks are fairly strong, and flesh tones look solid underneath the thick veneer of darkness. Accompanied by a layer of grain, Godzilla isn't the stuff of high definition visual bliss, but it looks good for what it has to offer.
Godzilla stomps onto Blu-ray with a hard-hitting DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Want volume? Godzilla's got volume. Want bass? Godzilla's got bass -- enough to shake the house down. This is the sort of soundtrack that defies description and is much better experienced first hand than read about second hand, but suffice it to say, this is a devastating, room-shaking, speaker-blowing, brain-scrambling soundtrack. Even at more than 10 years old, Godzilla is still one of the standard-bearers for ridiculously aggressive, terribly powerful, yet crystal-clear and highly entertaining sound mixes. Early in the film, thunder and rain explode through the soundstage, and from the monster's first attack on a fishing vessel onward, there's no mistaking that this is anything but a surround sound and bass-happy extravaganza. It seems almost pointless to mention specifics, because this one rarely lets up in its ability to create a large and seamless sense of space, make fantastic use of the surround channels, and deliver consistently tight and devastating bass. The subtle downpour that accentuates most every exterior scene, the reverberating thuds as the creature stomps through the city, the din of heavy artillery and gunfire, or Godzilla's deafening screams travel through the soundstage and into the ear drums to almost punishing effect. This may be too much for some listeners at reference volume, but a slight decrease in volume doesn't too terribly adversely affect the quality of the listen. Also featuring solid dialogue reproduction that doesn't really become muffled or lost under the rain and bass, Godzilla makes for a so-loud-it's-silly listen on Blu-ray.
This Blu-ray release of Godzilla, unfortunately, doesn't come with a monstrous selection
of extras. First up is a commentary track with Visual Effects Supervisor Volker Engel and
Associate Visual Effects Supervisor Karen Goulekas. A nuts-and-bolts technical track, the two do
a fine job of covering a nice spectrum of effects-related comments but also delve into more basic
items such as shooting locations. Fans interested in digital effects might want to give this one a
listen, but general audiences might want to spend their time with other endeavors. The
Ultimate 'Godzilla' Multi-Player Trivia Game provides players (single or multi) with either 10,
15, or 20 multiple choice Godzilla-based questions, with a 15-second time limit for each
answer.
Behind the Scenes of 'Godzilla' With Charles Caiman (480p, 6:58) is a generic
behind-the-scenes piece hosted by movie character Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer) that
features cast
and crew discussing the film, the characters, the special effects, and more. Next up is All
Time Best of 'Godzilla' Fight Scenes (480p, 10:14), a compilation piece that features the
famed creature as seen in various other films. Also included is the "Heroes" Music Video by The
Wallflowers (480p, 4:11); BD-Live functionality; Sony's "MovieIQ" that offers live, up-to-date
details about
every scene, including cast and crew filmographies and biographies, soundtrack listings, and
more;
a special sneak peak of the upcoming Roland Emmerich-directed 2012 (1080p, 2:32);
and 1080p trailers for Ghostbusters, The Da Vinci Code,
Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, Year One, The Sky Crawlers,
and
Monster House.
Also included is Sony's new on-disc digital copy that allows for transfer from a PlayStation 3 (PS3)
to a PlayStation Portable (PSP). The digital copy's
icon appears below the movie's icon on the PS3 XMB (Xross Menu Bar) and is accompanied by a
written reminder that the digital copy must be redeemed by 11/3/10 and is not available on
rental discs. Clicking on the icon signs users into the PlayStation Network where a prompt to
enter the included code appears on-screen. Following code entry, the digital copy is transferred to
the PS3 hard drive. Once the process is complete, an icon for the film will again appear under the
"video" tab of the XMB. To transfer to the PSP, highlight the digital copy's icon, press the
"option" (green triangle) key on the remote, and scroll to "copy." From there, users will be
prompted to connect the PSP to the PS3 via a USB cable, and then to select "USB Connection"
from the PSP's "Settings" menu in the XMB. Once the PSP is connected, users may need to
once again select "copy" under the digital copy's "options" screen on the PS3 to begin the
transfer. Once the
transfer is complete, the film will appear under the "Video" tab of the PSP's XMB. When the
movie plays, the "X" button and "start" button both pause the film; the "circle" button and the
"select" button return users to the XMB; the "triangle" button reveals a series of options;
the "square" button reveals a menu to select scenes from the film at either 15 second, 30
second, one minute, two minute, or five minute intervals; the "left" and "right" arrow keys on
the directional pad fast forward and reverse the film in increments of 1x, 2x, and 3x speeds; the
"up" and "down" arrows on the directional pad increase and decrease the playback speed from a
range of 0.5x speed to 2.0x speed; and the "left" and "right" shoulder buttons serve as chapter
skips, though there are no set chapters here, and the "left" button only returns the film to the
beginning. These PSP digital copies are quickly proving themselves superior to those compatible
with the iPod. Godzilla is a film primed to look poor via digital copy considering the
darkness and haze that surrounds most of the major sequences, but it looks quite good on the
PSP Go. Banding and blocking are kept to a minimum, even in the darkest corners of the screen.
Color reproduction is good, and detail is nicely rendered. The soundtrack is sufficiently loud to
enjoy in a quiet setting without the assistance of headphones, and while range is expectedly
limited,
clarity is decent. The headphones allow for more space and volume, and while the track certainly
doesn't hold a candle to the Blu-ray presentation, it's a nice alternative for on-the-go viewing.
They don't come much bigger and louder than Godzilla. Though not the special effects spectacle it once was, Roland Emmerich's Creature Disaster movie remains a severely flawed but thoroughly entertaining popcorn movie that might be the sort of thing that's nominated for Razzie awards (several, in fact) but it's also the sort of thing people go to see in droves. At the end of the day, it's just fine for what it is and wants to be, and in that light, Godzilla is a success on its own playing field. Sony's Blu-ray release delivers a strong 1080p transfer, a knockout of a lossless soundtrack, and a few throwaway extras. Recommended for fans of the film, noise, and bass.
2003
2008
2012
2002
2014
1997
2018
2018
2010
3-Disc Set
2010
1987
2018
2004
2008
2019
2010
2007
Unrated Extended Edition
2005
20th Anniversary Edition
1996
15th Anniversary Edition
2005