Godzilla : Zilla by white43

[boon23]

what kind of fanedit : TF
tagline: "You can't polish a turd." Nope, but I can make it smell a little less foul.
original film name: Godzilla
new film name : 'Godzilla : Zilla'
film studio name : TriStar Pictures, Centropolis
edit crew name : white43
Date Original Film Was Released : 1998
Date Edit Was Released : 2009
Original Runtime : 2hrs 10 min
New Runtime : 1hr 52 mins
Amount of time Cut/Added : 18 Mins

Cuts removed/added/extended :
Removed:
'Godzilla' credit. (It's not Godzilla - although they think it is later)
Knives do not fall in 'comic' fashion next to chef.
Nick does not sing in the van (but he had to when he arrived).
We don't see any pictures of Audrey while Nick works.
Removal of screwing up Nick's name.
Old Man does not say 'Gojira'.
Old man does not say 'Gojira' again.
No introduction to Audrey.
Nick's boss does not chat him up.
Audrey is not 'too damn nice'. She can be tough.
Audrey doesn't go gooey eyed at Nick on TV - so much.
Audrey's boss doesn't not notice Zilla walking past while on annoying mobile phone.
Animal only looks like he crapped his pants once.
No comedy from the Mayor in the helicopter with the sweets.
Roache does not express great distaste of the coffee.
No further coffee distain about American 'French Roast'.
More Mayoral comedy removed.
"We need bigger guns." No you don't.
Destruction of Chrysler Building by the Air Force no longer happens. Idiots.
"I think we got him." No you didn't.
Mayor doesn't get offered sweets again.
Audrey's first encounter with Nick has no gooey eyes and dialogue - no reminiscing of the past or allusion to their relationship.
No pictures of Audrey and Nick, Audrey spies the tape and swipes it.
Old man does not say 'Gojira'. Again.
Cut two stupid soldiers who don't notice Zilla's eye and noise he makes when standing!
Blubbing by Audrey all removed, Animal arrives and asks where she is.
Roache doesn't do an Elvis impression.
The Navy don't accidently blow up their own submarine. Idiots.
Nick jumps in an elevator but doesn't arrive at a floor with Zillas eating Popcorn.
Nick doesn't thwart the Zillas by throwing basketballs and gumballs on the floor.
After the explosion in MSG - no-one falls on the floor because:
No heart to heart with Nick and Audrey - Zilla just smashes straight out of MSG and they're all stood up at this stage - can't have continuity errors!
Audrey and Animal do not argue over directions at various points in the final chase.
When Zilla finally collapses - we don't get a rather forced 'comic' wheel go bouncing across the screen.
No celebration of Zillas death.
Finish on the egg hatching. I thought about cutting this, but it seemed far too abrupt.

Fanedit details XVID, but DVD to follow, pending approval
Your intention for this fanedit:
Since my discovery of the fanedit scene - I've been fascinated with the spectacular results people have achieved by removing (and sometimes inserting) scenes from well known films. I found myself one night watching Emmerich's horrific version of Godzilla. It is crap. No doubt about it - but what I did find myself doing was thinking "I'd remove that scene, hmmm, I'd remove that plot, hmm, I'd cut that in a better place." I kept turning it over in my head and eventually bit the bullet.

My intention was not to make Godzilla a great film, but to remove the bits that annoyed me the most - the worst stinking crap eg. The love subplot, military incompetence, the failing humour. I wanted to make Audrey a heartless bitch as well or, much more selfish....Audrey and Nick would allude to the fact they were involved, but they don't get all googley-eyed about it and get back together.

Another intention was to rename this film 'Zilla'. In Godzilla canon - this creature is not Godzilla - but Zilla, an 'American counterpart' to the real Godzilla. This was working well until I got to the big news piece where everyone was chirping 'Godzilla' every two seconds. I couldn't remove that scene as it was too fundamental to the plot. So that didn't work out too well in the end.

This is my first fan edit - really, I was just doing it to see if I could. It's not well polished and I think there are certainly a few less-than-seemless edits - but it's a least a version I think I can enjoy - should I ever feel the need to watch again! I appreciate that there will be those that will just hate it whatever...fair enough.

Your way to achieve your intention: Removal of love subplot, military incompetence and jokes.

Hardware and software information : Windows XP, Dvd Decrypter, Womble, TMPGENC DVD Author, AutoGK(for the XVID)

Time needed for the edition: 7 Days off and on
persons involved: 1

Maybe downloadable from Fanedit.info

 

[stomachworm]

what kind of fanedit : TF
tagline: "You can't polish a turd."

Actually...

"]

 

[white43]

what kind of fanedit : TF
tagline: "You can't polish a turd."

Actually...

"]

LOL! Looks like so many people hate this film that even an edit won't get out of the starting blocks! Ah well.

 

[tranzor]

This is the first edit to feature the 98 Godzilla (Jorge is cooking up something now), and considering the fact that I do not acknowledge the film I look forward to viewing an edit that may make me say ok
"we have something here"

will try for an approve or disapprove this week

 

[white43]

This is the first edit to feature the 98 Godzilla (Jorge is cooking up something now), and considering the fact that I do not acknowledge the film I look forward to viewing an edit that may make me say ok
"we have something here"

will try for an approve or disapprove this week

What's Jorge doing then? Ooh he's good....

Would really appreciate any feedback Tranzor.

Cheers

 

[tranzor]

on Jorge's Spawn of Frankenstein disc is a preview for an edit called behemouth. It mixes godzilla 98 and cloverfield

 

[JasonN]

on Jorge's Spawn of Frankenstein disc is a preview for an edit called behemouth. It mixes godzilla 98 and cloverfield

Oh lord.... :roll:

 

[tranzor]

JasonN,
Relax, it does not mean that more than one cant exist. I know you were doing something similar a long time ago

 

[JasonN]

JasonN,
Relax, it does not mean that more than one cant exist. I know you were doing something similar a long time ago

No it's not that - just the idea of mixing "Cloverfield" with "Crap-o-Zilla" sends shivers down my spine. :smile:

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

JasonN,
Relax, it does not mean that more than one cant exist. I know you were doing something similar a long time ago

No it's not that - just the idea of mixing "Cloverfield" with "Crap-o-Zilla" sends shivers down my spine. :smile:

lol, yes, it does sound like a craptastical combination, but the trailer looked AMAZING. and if he can pull of that kind of excitement for a full movie, it will be his finest work IMHO.

 

[zeppelinrox]

I put Zilla in the queue
I should have time to watch it tomorrow

 

[tranzor]

Godzilla : Zilla by white43
type = true fan edit
Review is for the xvid version

It should be noted the XVID is PAL format
I destroyed this after watching and acquired it for review purposes only

Unlike most other reviews this one is going to consist of my own scattered thoughts on the film and edit. In the end it should give you my overall impression of it

I have not seen the full film since viewing its sneak peek the night before it had a major release at my local theater. I was thoroughly disgusted then and though one vast improvement from this edit, I am still disgusted now.

Call it the "over anal Godzilla fan", but I have been one as far back as I can remember. When I heard of the US remake it originally had much promise until more information about it surfaced. I will leave it at that because this is an entire other subject altogether I am not going to go into.

The edit as already stated greatly improves this piece of celluloid trash. Seeing that I have not seen this film since 1998, I kept a fresh perspective (and relative open mind) and in that sense this edit worked well. The edit's pacing was perfect and kept everything going. The practically full removal love interest and other garbage that plagued the original film are now gone making it a better viewing experience. I still hate the Steven Spielberg type of music and I think if the editor was able to re-score this with something more appropriate it could change the mood from family film to a horror.

Though it has less of a connection to being Godzilla than before it still feels like a monster movie made for the Disney channel

The actual editing process was very clean with no hard edits. Once or twice you were able to tell two scenes were mixed but again it was not a hard edit. The audio/video sync is perfect but on occasion it does falter a few milliseconds here and there only to go back on track. Most won't notice this and most will not care, but for this review I have to pay attention to these things.

The video quality of this xvid was very decent, though you can see the formats limited ability during some of the darker scenes or ones with high action which produced artifacts and the usually block noise. A dvd version would be recommended


Without spoiling, I thought that this should have ended at the main scene and not with the generic cliché that riddles movies like this. In fact it added a feeling of despair the way the film ended before the "gotcha" which followed it. The "gotcha" should have been removed. I also would have loved the editor to remove the horrible song during the end credits and replace it with something else more in tone with the rest of the film


I am not going to rate this because it would be unfair to the editor. After seeing this film in the theater I no longer acknowledge it and have kept that stance since then. I will say though that for others who did like this film or those that were disappointed (not as much as I was), expect something better than before and worth seeing
I full approve of this edit for the sake of others who may enjoy the film. Unfortunately I am not one of them and never will be.

For records sake, Toho fixed the US Zilla problem in the most horrible "real" Godzilla film I have ever seen and that being Godzilla: Final Wars, in which the Japanese version wipes the US Zilla off the map with one shot. Worth viewing for that alone

 

[tranzor]

Godzilla : Zilla by white43
type = true fan edit
Review is for the xvid version

It should be noted the XVID is PAL format
I destroyed this after watching and acquired it for review purposes only

Unlike most other reviews this one is going to consist of my own scattered thoughts on the film and edit. In the end it should give you my overall impression of it

I have not seen the full film since viewing its sneak peek the night before it had a major release at my local theater. I was thoroughly disgusted then and though one vast improvement from this edit, I am still disgusted now.

Call it the "over anal Godzilla fan", but I have been one as far back as I can remember. When I heard of the US remake it originally had much promise until more information about it surfaced. I will leave it at that because this is an entire other subject altogether I am not going to go into.

The edit as already stated greatly improves this piece of celluloid trash. Seeing that I have not seen this film since 1998, I kept a fresh perspective (and relative open mind) and in that sense this edit worked well. The edit's pacing was perfect and kept everything going. The practically full removal love interest and other garbage that plagued the original film are now gone making it a better viewing experience. I still hate the Steven Spielberg type of music and I think if the editor was able to re-score this with something more appropriate it could change the mood from family film to a horror.

Though it has less of a connection to being Godzilla than before it still feels like a monster movie made for the Disney channel

The actual editing process was very clean with no hard edits. Once or twice you were able to tell two scenes were mixed but again it was not a hard edit. The audio/video sync is perfect but on occasion it does falter a few milliseconds here and there only to go back on track. Most won't notice this and most will not care, but for this review I have to pay attention to these things.

The video quality of this xvid was very decent, though you can see the formats limited ability during some of the darker scenes or ones with high action which produced artifacts and the usually block noise. A dvd version would be recommended


Without spoiling, I thought that this should have ended at the main scene and not with the generic cliché that riddles movies like this. In fact it added a feeling of despair the way the film ended before the "gotcha" which followed it. The "gotcha" should have been removed. I also would have loved the editor to remove the horrible song during the end credits and replace it with something else more in tone with the rest of the film


I am not going to rate this because it would be unfair to the editor. After seeing this film in the theater I no longer acknowledge it and have kept that stance since then. I will say though that for others who did like this film or those that were disappointed (not as much as I was), expect something better than before and worth seeing
I full approve of this edit for the sake of others who may enjoy the film. Unfortunately I am not one of them and never will be.

For records sake, Toho fixed the US Zilla problem in the most horrible "real" Godzilla film I have ever seen and that being Godzilla: Final Wars, in which the Japanese version wipes the US Zilla off the map with one shot. Worth viewing for that alone

 

[white43]

Thanks Tranzor - at last a review!

I do have a DVD version ready to go, but your review and some comments from Boon have made me wonder about doing a v2.0 of this edit.

This version would probably re-insert the 'Gojira' from the old man and probably remove the 'Gotcha' ending. Obvious more trims of comedy moment will probably go. Maybe, re-scoring the end music.

 

[tranzor]

that would be more welcome if you want to try and do a 2.0. Actually I like how it cuts before he says the name in the beginning and how we find his name later on in the film. Even though whats her face says "it's Gojira you jerk" after hearing her boss say the name wrong, you can see she is just commenting on what she had just heard the old man say on the video tape and her boss who stole her story say it wrong.

 

[white43]

What is it about: An even leaner, even more serious version of Roland Emmerich's Godzilla.
Original film name: Godzilla
New film name: Godzilla : Zilla
Film studio name: TriStar Pictures, Centropolis
Original Film Released: 1998
Fan Edit Released: 2009 by White43
Original Runtime: 2hrs 10 min (which include 10 minutes of credits)
New Runtime: 1hr 40mins
Amount of time Cut: 30 mins (of the film, not the credits)
Time taken for edit : On and off 4 months

Tagline: Comedy does not matter.

About this edit:
I started looking at Godzilla before Xmas 2008. It has always been a unanimously crap film and it just happened to be on. As I'd recently joined the FE community, I started looking at the film differently - could I remove elements to improve it? The love subplot always bothered me, plus painfully bad dialogue and humour. The military seemed to be completely inept, so I did the first edit - V1.0 which trimmed 18 minutes, but was my firstling effort and contained many rookie mistakes and inevitably didn't go far enough. Boon23 and Tranzor suggested changes and I decided to start from scratch again. This time, I was much, much harsher with the material, cutting psychotically to the point where we began to wander into incoherence....fortunately, a couple people such as JMB and Zeppelinrox saved me from that and now I believe we have a much leaner, tighter and overall serious version of the Emmerich nightmare.

Cut:

- An enormous list of cuts and changes can be found in the original thread here: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=5775

- Essentially, I've removed 95% of the comedy aspects. Tiny pieces remain where I thought they were OK - Jean Reno doing Elvis is still there for example, but all that Mayoral slapstick isn't.

- Scenes and lines that dumb Nick down are removed. Not all, but most. Also, any scenes which harm his character and anyone else for that matter are largely removed. The character of O'Neal has had most of his stuttering removed.

- The love subplot is utterly gone. Audrey is merely someone Nick knows, who steals his tape. Elsie Chapman no longer expresses interest in Nick which almost makes her utterly pointless - but then she was in the original anyway.

- Audrey is utterly reduced down. We don't have introductory or development scenes for her, Animal or Lucy. They're just there and take advantage of the situation. So no blubbing Audrey and diner/work scenes for her.

- Some military incompetence which is actually Emmerich just wanting to blow stuff up has been removed.

- The start of the film is completely changed, as is the ending.

- Some re-scoring has taken place, where the music was harming the mood of the film.

BIG thanks go out to JMB and nOmArch who assisted on a couple sequences (especially JMB who has given alot of advice and help). Also to Boon23 for the cover.

Tools Used:
Dvd Decrypter
Womble
TMPGENC DVD Author
AutoGK
CCE
AudioDub MPEG
DGPulldown

Maybe downloadable from Fanedit.info

XVID on RS.

SL NTSC DVD to follow, which will contain 'deleted scenes' to remind viewers of the nonsense that used to be there.
SL PAL DVD will be available on request.

Covers by Boon23:

 

[elbarto1]

Let me preface this by saying I mean no disrespect and intend all my comments/criticisms to be taken as constructive

Godzilla: Zilla is a fanedit that aimed to remove the more silly, comedic and stupid parts from the 1998 film Godzilla. In this regard, White43 succeeds almost entirely. There are still a few one-liners and goofball comments made by Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and Mayor Ebert but for the most part the really offending material has been excised.

All of what was removed is included on the DVD as a deleted scenes montage that plays like a blooper reel and really shows how ridiculous the original film was before White got a hold of it.

------------------------------------------

However, despite being a better cut of the film there are are a few problem areas in the technical side:

From 6:35 to 6:40 there are no sound effects (other than music) this sounds fine but causes a few errors: the green text saying "golfo de san miguel - panama" has no sound when it appears (as it does elsewhere in the film) and when the general is talking at 6:40 we see his lips say "thats affirmative" but theres no sound of him or the plane flying in.

There is an odd audio transition at 9:13 (not a hard cut but one that could be smoothed over more IMO)

This may not be an editing error at all but rather just the way the film was made - there are only 3 choppers chasing Godzilla echo-1, 2, and 4 - so, what happened to echo-3?

Hard cut at 34:38 - Nick is talking to army guy, then army guy is immediately walking w/ media.

The conversation around 43:00 is somewhat confusing - how does Nick know Audrey is a reporter? She mentions "not being off the record" and "lying to him" but none of this happened in your edit.

Hard Audio Transition at 1:16:03

9 minute end credits are a bit much IMO. Suggest making custom credits for this edit, or trimming them down. Also suggest losing Johnny Cash's "Hurt" and just use BOC's "Godzilla" as it fits much better IMO. (nothing against Cash, the song just doesnt fit IMO)

-----------------------------------------------------

Video Quality - 8/10 looked nice but there were a few jaggies here and there.
Video Editing - 6/10 a few hard cuts are all that hold this back from a higher score

Audio Quality - 10/10 5.1 surround sounds great!
Audio Editing - 6/10 a few hard cuts are all that hold this back from a higher score

Entertainment - 6/10 While I still think this film isnt very good, this version is much better than the original and is a fun "summer" film. (3/10 for original)

DVD Presentation - 7/10 static menu w/ Scene Selection and Deleted Scenes Montage looked good. No included art here but Boons Green/Blue Covers look great.

Final Score - 7/10

Note: While 7/10 is a decent score, I cannot approve this edit in its current form. the issues are minor but can be easily fixed and IMO should be addressed as they would dramatically improve my overall score.

Edit to the ^Note^: I see Tranzor has already approved the AVI release of this, my apologies - I didnt see that and I dont wish to force this edit back into the works. Perhaps the errors I mentioned only pertain to the DVD release...? No confusion intended though

 

[tranzor]

well the thing is the version I approved was an early version 1. White has made several upgrades since that time which I have not seen yet. Are you positive you have the latest one?

The tech issues of what I saw in that very early avi were extremely minor or not worth mentioning and overall the edit worked fine which is why I had approved it

 

[elbarto1]

as far as I know, the version I saw was the newest one listed on LT.

I dont question your approval Tranzor, I only mentioned your name because I failed to see that you had already approved the AVI version of this edit.

 

[white43]

Let me preface this by saying I mean no disrespect and intend all my comments/criticisms to be taken as constructive

Yep no bother ;-) I'm not at home, so I need to check back on these things, but I can comment on some now.

All of what was removed is included on the DVD as a deleted scenes montage that plays like a blooper reel and really shows how ridiculous the original film was before White got a hold of it.

Some footage, about 12 mins worth...I cut 30 mins
-----------------------------------------

From 6:35 to 6:40 there are no sound effects (other than music) this sounds fine but causes a few errors: the green text saying "golfo de san miguel - panama" has no sound when it appears (as it does elsewhere in the film) and when the general is talking at 6:40 we see his lips say "thats affirmative" but theres no sound of him or the plane flying in.

I wanted it like that - no FX, just the music playing(like the start). But you're right about the 'location' text. I hadn't noticed them.

There is an odd audio transition at 9:13 (not a hard cut but one that could be smoothed over more IMO)

Need to check.
EDIT: Just checked - nothing I can see, I didn't edit this part - it has Nick removing a piece of flesh from this ship? Or do you mean the first shot of the jeeps. Timing seems to be different.

This may not be an editing error at all but rather just the way the film was made - there are only 3 choppers chasing Godzilla echo-1, 2, and 4 - so, what happened to echo-3?

I think it was the way it was made.

Hard cut at 34:38 - Nick is talking to army guy, then army guy is immediately walking w/ media.

EDIT : OK. You're timing seems to be different to mine - at 34:38, I've got Nick talking to Audrey before she steals the tape. Oddly enough I hadn't noticed that it was O'Neal again in that next shot.

The conversation around 43:00 is somewhat confusing - how does Nick know Audrey is a reporter? She mentions "not being off the record" and "lying to him" but none of this happened in your edit.

Hmmm, Nick knows Audrey is a reporter anyway? Inclusion of how Nick knows she really is leads us to a cuddly-wuddly scene :mrgreen:

Hard Audio Transition at 1:16:03

Now, I really need to check that one.
EDIT : You'll need to explain what the transition is as the timing is different.

9 minute end credits are a bit much IMO. Suggest making custom credits for this edit, or trimming them down. Also suggest losing Johnny Cash's "Hurt" and just use BOC's "Godzilla" as it fits much better IMO. (nothing against Cash, the song just doesnt fit IMO)

Nah, I like the Cash. IMO. :-D

-----------------------------------------------------

Audio Quality - 8/10 2.0 Stereo was adequate but 5.1 is always better

It should be 5.1, that's at least what was encoded, unless TMPGENC DVD Author has done something daft.

EDIT: KMPlayer is reporting it as 5.1

Entertainment - 6/10 While I still think this film isnt very good, this version is much better than the original and is a fun "summer" film. (3/10 for original)

DVD Presentation - 7/10 static menu w/ Scene Selection and Deleted Scenes Montage looked good.

No included art here but Boons Green/Blue Covers look great.

Really? I thought I put them on the disk?

Final Score - 7/10

Ta for the review. I'll check over those other bits.