Godzilla (movie, 2014)

Synopsis

The nuclear physicist Joseph Brody investigates mysterious phenomena taking place in Japan , fifteen years after an incident that irradiated the Tokyo area and tore apart his own family. Refusing to stick to the official version that evokes an earthquake , the scientist returns to the scene of the tragedy accompanied by his son Ford, a soldier in the Navy ¹ . They discover that the incidents are not related to a natural disaster, but to monsters awakened by nuclear tests in the Pacific in the aftermath of the Second World War . These creatures are monitored by an organization named Monarch² , but they soon threaten the security of the Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of the United States . At the same time, Ford’s companion, a nurse and a young mother, manages the wounded in a hospital in San Francisco ^{3 , 4 , 5 , 1} .

Detailed Summary

Philippines , 1999 . A highly radioactive skeleton is discovered in the collapse of a uranium mine . Two researchers, Dr. Serizawa and his assistant Vivienne Graham, part of a mysterious organization, Monarch , land on the site. They discover two fossilized spores hanging on the skeleton and something has been extracted from one of them to reach the ocean.

Japan , at the same time. Joe and Sandra Brody live with their son, Ford, in the Tokyo area . The American couple are working in the Janjira nuclear power plant. For some time, abnormal seismic shaking has been detected by the devices. Joe is worried because the epicenter is moving. He knows the anomaly is about to be repeated, this time at a higher intensity, but officials do not want to hear about it. As expected, a huge shock shakes the plant and causes a leak in the reactor. In the panic, Joe faces a difficult decision, that of condemning the armored doors while his wife is on the other side. The installation collapses.

Fifteen years later, Joe remained obsessed with what happened. He has refused, since the disaster, to adhere to the official thesis that evokes a natural cause and states that elements have been stifled by governments. In the meantime, Ford became a lieutenant in the US Navy specializing in mine clearance and founded a family in San Francisco, with his wife Elle Brody, a doctor at the hospital, and Sam, their son. Since the Janjira incident and the death of his wife, communication is difficult between Joe and his son. But Joe manages to persuade Ford to return to the scene, to Janjira, to gather the elements that could prove his theories. But as they venture into the ruins of the former labor village, they are arrested by government agents. They discover a terrible truth: fifteen years ago, “something” fed on the radiations of the power plant, a destructive force from the depths of time. Since all this time, the beast was resting in a huge chrysalis under close supervision by the Monarch organizationand Dr. Serizawa. She is now ready to extricate herself from her cocoon, generating significant electromagnetic impulses . Serizawa tries to kill her, but the MUTO ( Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism or terrestrial ultimate mutant of unknown origin ) takes off after destroying the base. Joe dies of his wounds, and with him all his researches.

Serizawa tells Ford that creatures once ate natural radiation well before the appearance of humans. Millions of years ago, they had to bury themselves in the depths of the world to survive. But in 1954 , they were awakened by the activities of the first nuclear-powered submarine , the Nautilus . One of these monsters, Godzilla , is an ” alpha predator “, a force of nature whose role is to chase the MUTOs to restore balance. It also explains that the nuclear testsin the Bikini Atollrealized from that moment were actually attempts to kill Godzilla. Ford reveals to the scientists that his father had discovered a form of echolocation in the tremors and Serizawa discovers in horror that the MUTO actually communicates with another individual of his species, a female, wingless but twice as large as the second spore discovered in the Philippines in 1999 and brought back to the United States in the Nevada desert to be able to mate with it. The female destroys Las Vegas and heads for the sea. Admiral Stenz and Captain Hampton, US Navy, are ordered to conduct operations to defend the West Coast.

Meanwhile, the male is attacking a Russian submarine off Hawaii . The submersible is found in the jungle of Honolulu , its bars of radioactive fuel serving as a meal to the monster. The army tries to kill the insectoid creature, but it escapes them to attack the airport. It also appears that it has the ability to generate electromagnetic interference that disables electronic systems. Godzilla disembarks in a huge wave and faces the MUTO on the tarmac. The latter escapes again, and Godzilla pursues him. It becomes clear that opponents are converging on San Francisco, where the gigantic female is also heading. Admiral Stenz and Dr. Serizawa do not share the same view of the situation. Dr. Serizawa deplores the arrogance of humanity, which believes that nature is under its control, and wants the army to let monsters compete in the natural course of things. Stenz considers that this option is far too risky, and thinks he can solve the problem only by a nuclear strike.

A rail convoy is organized, carrying several Minuteman III nuclear missiles whose timer is no longer digital, but analog. Ford manages to convince the leader of the convoy to let him accompany him to join his family who is in danger. The plan to destroy the monsters is to transport the nuclear warheads 20 miles (about 36 kilometers) off the coast, letting the monsters join it and blow it up, destroying the monsters by the only blast effect . But the female attacks the convoy and leaves only one nuclear warhead and Ford as the only survivor. The US Army finds the nuclear warhead as well as Ford and brings them back to San Francisco.

Meanwhile, while the city is evacuated, she entrusts Sam to Laura, a colleague, to shelter her while she continues to care for her patients. But the male seizes the nuclear head while his timer is already on the way and offers to the female, who begins to build his nest in the city. And to make matters right, Godzilla landed soon after and began the fight against the male, forcing Elle and a large number of civilians to take refuge in the nearest subway station. The army, for its part, is trying a last-ditch operation to prevent a nuclear explosion in the city center. The plan is to send deminers, which includes Ford (the only one available to have the analog detonator experience), by HALO jump, so that they find the missile, defuse it or if it is impossible, send it off to explode far from any civilian population.

The parachute jump goes smoothly and the Ford unit arrives at the nest, only to find the female laying its eggs. Fortunately for them, Godzilla (who has provisionally got rid of the male) arrives at the scene and attacks the female, who leaves her nest. This allows the men to reach their goal in the heart of the underground nest, but the defusing mechanism is stuck and they only have time to send the warhead off. On the surface, if Godzilla succeeds in practically controlling the female, the intervention of the male puts him in great difficulty, and the MUTO gets in two to try to defeat him. Fortunately for him, Ford offers him a welcome distraction. Indeed, having found that it was hundreds of MUTO that would sweep the world if the eggs hatched,

While the female notices Ford’s presence near the nest and is about to kill him, Godzilla reveals his ability to spit nuclear fire, and uses it against the female, who finds herself on the ground, allowing Ford to ‘escape; the intervention of the male puts him once again in difficulty. With a tail, Godzilla sends the male impaled in a building, killing him instantly. But the building collapses on Godzilla. Meanwhile, the soldiers embark the nuclear warhead on a boat and start it, activating the siren of the latter which attracts the female (who has recovered his spirits) right on them. Ford arrives while the female is temporarily distracted from the nuclear head by reinforcements arrived at the same time. He starts the engines and sends the boat off, but is caught by the female. As she prepares to devour him with the nuclear warhead, Godzilla intervenes and kills the female with her nuclear fire, before returning to the shore and collapsing from exhaustion. On the death of the last MUTO, all electronic systems restart and Ford is taken safely while the warhead explodes off.

Ford finds his son at the city stadium, which has been spared by the fighting. His wife, who had been buried with other civilians under the rubble during the monsters’ fight, was released and joined him at the stadium. Dr. Serizawa contemplates Godzilla and attends his awakening. Finally, the monster king returns to the ocean and plunges into the depths, regardless of his new popularity …

Technical sheet

• Original and french title: Godzilla
• Director: Gareth Edwards
• Scenario: Max Borenstein , based on a story by David Callaham
• Artistic direction: Grant Van Der Slagt
• Sets: Owen Paterson
• Costumes: Sharen Davis
• Photography: Seamus McGarvey
• Editing: Bob Ducsay
• Music: Alexandre Desplat ⁶
• Production: Jon Jashni , Mary Parent , Brian Rogers and Thomas Tull

Associate production company: Yoshimitsu Banno, Alex Garcia, Kenji Okuhira and Patricia Whitcher

• Production Companies: Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures ; Disruption Entertainment and Tōhō (co-productions)
• Distribution companies: Warner Bros. (United States), Tōhō (Japan), Warner Bros. France France)
• Budget: $ 160,000,000 ⁷
• Country of origin: United States
• Original language: English
• Format: color – 35 mm – 2.35: 1 – its Dolby Digital
• Genre: science fiction , action
• Duration: 123 minutes
• Release dates ⁸ :
  •  Belgium , France :  May 14 , 2014
  •  United States : May 16 , 2014
• Kaijus / Monsters : Godzilla and MUTO

Distribution

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson (VF: Jean-Christophe Dollé , VQ: Xavier Dolan-Tadros ) : Lieutenant Ford Brody
• Ken Watanabe (VF: François Dunoyer , VQ: Sylvain Hétu ) : Dr. Ishiro Serizawa ⁹
• Elizabeth Olsen (VF: Celine Mauge , VQ: Eloisa Cervantes) : She Brody
• Bryan Cranston (VF: Jean-Louis Faure , VQ: Jacques Lavallée ) : Joseph “Joe” Brody
• Juliette Binoche (VF and VQ: herself ) : Sandra Brody ¹⁰
• David Strathairn (VF: Hervé Bellon , VQ: René Gagnon ) : Admiral William Stenz
• Sally Hawkins (VF: Danièle Douet , VQ: Valérie Gagné ) : Dr. Vivienne Graham
• Richard T. Jones (VF: Daniel Lobé , VQ: Patrick Chouinard) : Captain Russell Hampton
• Victor Rasuk (VQ: Hugolin Chevrette-Landesque ) : Sergeant Tre Morales
• CJ Adams: Ford Brody young
• Carson Bold (VQ: Ross Matis ) : Sam Brody
• Patrick Sabongui ( VQ: Denis Roy) : Lieutenant-Commander Marcus Waltz
• Al Sapienza : Huddleston
• Brian Markinson : Whelan
• Hiro Kanagawa (VF: Sylvain Clément) : Hayato
• Ty Olsson : Jainway

Source and legend : French version (VF) on RS Dubbing ¹¹ and Quebec version (VQ) on Doublage Québec ¹²

Production

Development

The project to adapt Godzilla for the US market dates back to the early 1980s , when the Tōhō studio gave up the rights to its famous saga in Hollywood . Director Steve Miner starts work on a hypothetical 3D movie, with the help of Rick Baker ( Greystoke , The Werewolf of London ) but the budget is too much for the studios ^13 , 14 .

In 1992 , TriStar Pictures bought Godzilla’s rights to produce a trilogy, with the promise of “staying true to the original work” . Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio deliver the final version of the script in 1994 . Godzilla, fruit of the experiments of an ancient civilization, must protect the planet from an alien monster nicknamed “Gryphon” ¹³ . Director Jan de Bont begins pre-production of the first part with Stan Winston , who worked on Terminator or Jurassic Park . The output is planned for1996 , but as shooting locations begin, TriStar rejects the $ 120 million budget and lets Project ¹⁵die .

In 1996 , Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin sign for a movie Godzilla provided “to do so in their own way ¹⁶ ” . The project is produced by Centropolis Entertainment and TriStar Pictures , and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment . Godzilla becomes an iguana irradiated by French nuclear tests in the Pacific , which goes to New York to lay thousands of eggs. The Tōhō studio validates the models of French-Greek special effects specialist Patrick Tatopoulos (Stargate , Independence Day ). The film, starring Matthew Broderick , Kevin Dunn and Jean Reno , was released in 1998 . But even if the success is the rendezvous, this remake American is far from unanimous. A sequel is announced but dark in the boxes. The creature Emmerich sees renowned GINO ( Godzilla in Name Only : Godzilla in name only ). The Tōhō, embarrassed by the unpopularity of the film that should have been the revival of his greatest franchise, later decided to rename the creature Zilla in his kaiju repertoire(Japanese giant monsters) ¹⁷ . The studio hastens immediately to revive a series of Godzilla films which marks the creation of the Millenium era , between 2000 and 2004 . Godzilla: Final Wars ( Gojira: Fainaru uōzu ), which sees both versions of the monster face each other briefly, is the latest film in the saga.

More than a decade after the Godzilla of Roland Emmerich , the studios Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. buy Godzilla’s rights to the Toho. Producer Brian Rogers announces new remake where Godzilla in computer graphics will face “a monster ¹⁸ ” . The studio also announces Pacific Rimof Guillermo del Toro , tribute to the genre kaiju eiga (“giant monster movie”). Gareth Edwards , director of Monsters , is committed to the project. The screenwriter and directorFrank Darabont reworks a script by David S. Goyer , Max Borenstein and David Callaham. This reboot is said to be very close to the spirit of the original 1954 film . The monster becomes a titan of prehistory whose revival is linked to US nuclear tests, but this time it will face monsters feeding on radiation. “Nuclear is very much at the heart of the film, and our main theme is the man against nature. And in this fight, nature always wins , ” says the director. “For me, [Godzilla] is like God’s wrath or revenge for the way we behaved ¹⁹ ” .

In 2011 , the Fukushima nuclear disaster significantly slows the Godzilla project , while the film is still in the pre-production stage. “We had to choose: do we give up a film on radioactivity and Japan, or do we take this subject in our film? ” Says director Gareth Edwards. “But it’s the job of this kind of movies to reflect the problems of their time […] We’ve opened the Pandora’s box of nuclear power and we can not close it anymore. Somehow, the monster of our film reflects this ²⁰ “. To give a second youth to the famous monster from the aesthetic point of view takes a whole year, with the participation of the artists of Weta Workshopand the actor Andy Serkis for the capture of movements ²¹ .

Legendary Pictures set the release date to May 2014 ²² , which coincides with the 60 ^th anniversary of the release of the film Ishirō Honda .

Distribution of roles

The main cast is composed of Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Elizabeth Olsen , Bryan Cranston , Juliette Binoche , David Strathairn and Sally Hawkins . Ken Watanabe plays the role of Dr. Serizawa, a nod to a character from the 1954 original film by actor Akihiko Hirata. For the role of Ford Brody (played on the screen by Aaron Taylor-Johnson ), the first picks were Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Henry Cavill , Caleb Landry Jones and Scoot McNairy ^{[ref. necessary]} .

Shooting

The filming began on March 18 , 2013and concluded on July 18 of the same year. Major production locations include Vancouver and Nanaimo ( Canada ), and O’ahu , the third largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago , “the most impressive film shoot ever seen at Waikiki Beach ” ^23 , 24 .

Music

The director Gareth Edwards has called on Frenchman Alexandre Desplat to compose the soundtrack ²⁷ , which is marketed on May 13, 2014 ²⁸ .

Home

Promotion

The first images of the film are officially presented to the public during Comic-Con in San Diego in 2012 ²⁹ .

In 2013 , Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures announced at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas partnered with several toy manufacturers and collections of figurines, including Bandai and Sideshow Collectibles ³⁰ . The same year, a mysterious site named Godzilla Encounter , belonging to Legendary Pictures , made its appearance on the web. The site postpones strange phenomena on the West Coast of the United States as boat disappearances or seismic activities related to the transition of the monster ³¹ . Legendary Pictures unveils atComic-Con de San Diego two new official posters, including one depicting a devastated city whose ruined buildings form the iconic silhouette of the monster ^32 , 33 . The film crew presents a teaser to the public. An exhibition devoted to the history of the saga Godzilla is also open and close the event, where visitors can get a glimpse of the appearance of the monster that will appear in the new film ³⁴ .

In October, Warner Bros. request that two trailers released online illegally are removed ³⁵ . The trailer is finally announced for the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug . On this occasion, a viral website called MUTO research , containing information about the film that users must decipher (as character names), is posted ³⁶ .

A second trailer is unveiled on February 25, 2014 ³⁷ . The promotion starts in March with the publication of posters, trailers and photos of the by-products. Excerpts from the film were unveiled at CinemaCon and South by Southwest(exhibition of new technologies in Austin ) ³⁸ . The American premiere of Godzilla takes place May 8 in Los Angeles in the presence of the ³⁹ film crew . The European premieres are held in Paris (at the Grand Rex ⁴⁰ ) and in Londonon 10 and 11 of the same month ⁴¹ .

Critical reception

On the Allocine site, the 22 press reviews are positive for an average of 3.4 / 5. Spectators give it a rather positive average, 3/5 for an average of 9,922 notes including 1,714 reviews.

Box office

Country or region	Box Office	Box office shutdown date	Number of weeks
United States	$ 200,616,740 42 , 43	August 20 , 2014	14
la France	1,361,689 entries 43	July 15 , 2014	9
World	$ 529,076,069 42	August 20 , 2014	–

Around the film

• The character of Dr. Serizawa, played by Ken Watanabe , is a nod to the character’s original film from 1954 held by actor Akihiko Hirata ⁴⁴
• You can see a poster of kaiju eiga typical of the 1950s in the scene that introduces the Brody family in Japan ⁴⁵ .
• According to director Gareth Edwards, the name Brody is a nod to the character of Roy Scheider in the Jaws of Spielberg ⁴⁶ .
• A cameo from Akira Takarada , a leading actor in the original Godzilla saga , was cut in the editing. Gareth Edwards apologized to the octogenarian actor ⁴⁷ .
• The film ends with Godzilla returning to the ocean after a grueling battle, like most of the saga’s films.
• The graphic novel Godzilla Awakening serves as prequel to the film. The story, written by Max Borenstein, one of the screenwriters, focuses on the father of Serizawa, when he recalls his early years to prove the existence of Godzilla at the end of the Second World War ⁴⁸ . The cover is from Arthur Adams , author of the comics Godzilla in the 1990s .
• In the devastated Brody apartment, you can see a vivarium with a Mothra label . The vivarium being empty we can assume that the creature, a giant butterfly, could appear in a possible sequel.
• In the scene where Ford Brody and army soldiers parachute in full storm, throughout their stunt, one can hear an excerpt from Ligeti’s Requiem for Choir and Orchestra, well known for appearing in 2001, Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick .
• As the character of Ford Brody, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson , is faced with Godzilla looks forward to close our eyes, we can assume that this scene would be a nod to the Godzilla of Roland Emmerich where Doctor Nick Tatopoulos, once played by Matthew Broderick , was facing the monster who was watching him one last time before dying.
• Bryan Cranston was disappointed with the timing of his character’s death in the film, which he said should have come later to facilitate the process of reconciliation with his son. It would have tried to modify this situation, but since the production process was already underway, the room for maneuver remained difficult ⁴⁹ .

1. ↑ ^a and b Reportage on the set of GODZILLA | ESI  [ archive ]
2. ↑ Graphic Novel “Godzilla: Awakening” Review  [ archive ]
3. ↑ Cosmic Book News  [ archive ]
4. ↑ Entrevista Elizabeth Olsen & Bryan Cranston  [ archive ]
5. ↑ (in) Gareth Edwards Brings the mega-monsters  [ archive ] on Total Film in July 2013
6. ↑ [1]  [ archive ] Godzilla Score to be Composed by Alexandre Desplat
7. ↑ http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=179616.html  [ archive ]
8. ↑ (en) Release dates [ archive ] on the Internet Movie Database
9. ↑ MUTO Monarch Surveillance Archives  [ archive ]
10. ↑ MUTO Monarch Surveillance Archives  [ archive ]
11. ↑ “French dubbing sheet of the film”  [ archive ] on RS Dubbing , accessed on May 14, 2014, m-dd on June 12, 2014
12. ↑ “Quebec dubbing sheet of the film”  [ archive ] on Doublage Québec , accessed November 17, 2014
13. ↑ ^a and b | The Movie Connoisseur | Three America Godzilla films  [ archive ]
14. ↑ Godzilla Blog | File: Godzilla and Hollywood  [ archive ]
15. ↑ TriStar monster of lands deal with ‘Godzilla’  [ archive ]
16. ↑ The Tri-Star Godzilla movie  [ archive ]
17. ↑ [2]  [ archive ]
18. ↑ The Mighty ‘Godzilla’ Will Roar Once More!  [ archive ]
19. ↑ Interview with Gareth Edwards  [ archive ]
20. ↑ lematin.ch  [ archive ]
21. ↑ Daily News  [ archive ]
22. ↑ Legendary News  [ archive ]
23. ↑ (in) Godzilla (2014) Filming Rentals  [ archive ]
24. ↑ Godzilla: impressive scene of shooting in Hawaii  [ archive ]
25. ↑ (in) Alexandre Desplat – Godzilla (2014) (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)  [ Archive ] – AllMusic .com
26. ↑ (in) Alexandre Desplat – Godzilla (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)  [ archive ]
27. ↑ (in) ‘Godzilla’ Score to be Composed by Alexandre Desplat Screenrant.com  [ archive ]
28. ↑ (in) Godzilla – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack  [ archive ]
29. ↑ The Figaro Godzilla: the first poster and a teaser unveiled  [ archive ]
30. ↑ ‘Godzilla’ Licensing Reveals Plenty Of Interest, New Creatures, In Franchise  [ archive ]
31. ↑ GODZILLA: the viral campaign begins  [ archive ]
32. ↑ A poster teaser for Godzilla  [ archive ]
33. ↑ [3]  [ archive ]
34. ↑ Godzilla is revealed at Comic-Con!  [ archive ]
35. ↑ [Produced as share of Godzilla’s 30th anniversary, the movie returned the series to the darker themes and mood of Reviews some of the early movies and Godzilla returned à son destructive antagonistic roots]
36. ↑ [4]  [ archive ] MUTO]
37. ↑ 2014 Allociné  [ archive ]
38. ↑ The promotion of GODZILLA full swing [ archive ]
39. ↑ Godzilla shuts down Hollywood Boulevard for movie premiere [ archive ]
40. ↑ Syfantasy.fr  [ archive ]
41. ↑ London Film Premiere  [ archive ]
42. ↑ ^a and b ” Godzilla ”  [ archive ] , on Box Office Mojo
43. ↑ ^a and b ” Godzilla ”  [ archive ] , on JP’s Box Office
44. ↑ Ken Watanabe: in the wake of Gojira  [ archive ]
45. ↑ 17 Easter Eggs (…) Ford’s Poster  [ archive ]
46. ↑ 17 Easter Eggs (…) The Spielberg Influences  [ archive ]
47. ↑ Godzilla Director Apologies For Cutting Akira Takarada Cameo  [ archive ]
48. ↑ Graphic Novel GODZILLA: AWAKENING Review  [ archive ]
49. ↑ Benjamin Rozovas, ” Red Alert ” First No. 469 , March-April 2016, p.  13