Roland Emmerich Thinks His 1998 Godzilla Was ‘Much Better’ Than Toh’s Monster

1998’s Godzilla is a complex beast. It was the first ever iconic franchise to be made in America and had a killer marketing campaign based on the “less is more” approach. with the film possibly having one of the best teaser trailers of all time. Did the movie live up to the hype? While this of course depends on the individual viewer, the general consensus is that the film was a huge disappointment, both critically and commercially. Despite this, the film’s director felt compelled to defend it — or at least the controversial King of the Monsters redesign.

In a Reddit AMA in 2012, Roland Emmerich decided to ask some questions about Godzilla. Regardless of what one thinks of the film, it was a fairly simple Q&A that shows the kind of honesty you rarely get from a big Hollywood director. For example, when someone asked him why he would make a Godzilla movie if he didn’t even like the monster, Emmerich bluntly replied, “The money was good.” Emmerich exits the monster hit ‘Independence Day’ and certainly earned a good salary for it.

Reinterpretation of the favorite monster in 1998 is remembered for completely changing the appearance of the main character. Everything we knew about Godzilla was abandoned in favor of something radically different, for better or for worse. Someone else in the AMAs questioned why Emmerich decided to change almost everything about Godzilla for the movie. His response enlightened, if perhaps infuriated, longtime fans:

“I felt that the Godzilla redesign was important to the film. My vision required a different monster than the strong, clumsy, indestructible rubber suit that Toha had been using for decades. In my opinion, it’s time to do the much-needed makeover for Godzilla.”

1998 year Godzilla has a lot of problems, which co-writer Dean Devlin admitted. These issues go far beyond character design, but it could easily be seen as a problem with the film’s director treating the most iconic monster ever to appear on the big screen as “clunky” and in need of a makeover.

Consider the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Successful takes on the franchise over the years have mostly embraced classic design as a foundation, but Emmerich has thrown all of that out the window. Doubling down on his thoughts while answering another fan’s Q&A, he made a rather large attempt at a classic Toh Godzilla design dating back to the original 1954 classic:

“My version of Godzilla was realistic. She was sleek, stylish, and scary looking. It was MUCH better than that Toho monster.’

With a whopping $150 million budget, Emmerich’s film grossed $379 million worldwide. You can’t call it a failure, but it certainly didn’t live up to expectations, so we never got a sequel. It took 16 years before another American take on the franchise came to fruition. director Garrett Edwards’ Godzilla hit theaters in 2014 and grossed $529 million worldwide. More importantly, it laid the foundation for what we now know as the still-evolving MonsterVerse franchise.

Say what you will about Edwards’ film, but he took what people love about Godzilla, which has allowed the franchise to thrive for 70 years. With a franchise going this long, different options are welcome – just look 2023 Oscar Series Godzilla Minus One. But looking back, it’s amazing that a man who didn’t even seem interested in Godzilla was ever given the keys to the kingdom.

Godzilla is now available to rent on VOD, or you can pick up a copy in 4K, Blu-ray or DVD via Amazon.