Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Warren H.:
Watching this today, I realized that Devlin/Emmerich remade this, not Godzilla, when they did their "Godzilla 98" piece of crap. It's all there: the scientist working with radioactivity, the monster sinking a fishing boat, the monster going to Manhattan because that's where its kind used to breed, the monster smashing up a harbor, the blood on the ground after the first military assault. At one point, the monster picks up a car and shakes it back and forth, a scene which was remade almost shot-for-shot in Godzilla '98. At another point, the monster flees from the army to . . . the Hudson river! (Just like the iguana in Godzilla 98). The Beast from 20,000 fathoms even LOOKED like the monster in Godzilla 98 (I refuse to refer to it as Godzilla). I think Devlin/Emmerich started out making a remake of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and just decided to slap the Godzilla name on it to make more money. Sheesh, they trash the Godzilla name and don't even do it ripping off Godzilla.
Apostic:
Of course, to start a flame war, one might suggest that Ishirô Honda ripped it off, too.
But, well, nobody should want a flame war where the Big G is involved....
asbestos regards,
Apostic
Squishy:
Like I've been saying! The sole major difference between the plots of "Beast" and "Deanzilla" is that the creature's offspring replace prehistoric microbes as the general threat to all mankind.
The ultimate rip-off: In "Beast" there is a preposterous scene where a cop empties his gun at the approaching monster, THEN TAKES HIS EYES OFF IT to reload. The monster eats him. In "Deanzilla," there is a preposterous scene where a cameraman empties his tape filming the approaching monster, THEN TAKES HIS EYES OFF IT to reload. The monster steps on him (but misses).
Another clue should be the clip from "It Came From Beneath The Sea" playing on a TV during "Deanzilla." Well, that and the fact that "Independence Day" is a bad rehash of "Earth vs The Flying Saucers." These guys love Ray Harryhausen's stuff--and it sure beats writing original material! (Their other, non-Harryhausenesque films include "Stargate" and "Moon 44"--need I say more?)
One more like this, and Harryhausen should have grounds for a lawsuit. Might I suggest Dean Devlin's "The Aluminum Voyage of Sindbad?" It'll be 100% recycled material!
Apostic: point taken--but the only thing "Beast" and "Godzilla" (real version) (and "The Giant Behemoth") have in common are city-destroying giant reptilian monsters born of nuclear bomb activity. "Pet Semetary" and "The Sixth Sense" both have scary spirits with mutilated faces lurking about; "Time After Time" and "Back To The Future" both have time machines--but one is not a ripoff of another. 'Deanzilla" steals plot aspects and whole scenes from "Beast" with little or no change. (And, quite frankly, the script of "Godzilla"--again, real version--is better than that of "Beast.")
Andrew K:
What really bugs me is that the people who sneer at Harryhausen and Honda's films, as well as other fifties SF movies as being "old" and "cheezy" are the same people who gobble up Emmerich-Devlin's wretched tripe. The user comments on the IMDB often infuriate me, but the one which had my blood REALLY boiling was one for Rolandzila by a user who was either very young, very stupid, or just kidding. He or she said something on the level of "why do people here like those Japanese Godzilla movie so much? Those were MST3K movies. This one had great effects. I don't if I'm going to see that new Godzilla movie [Godzilla 2000-AK] because it looks too much like the old ones. "That attitudes makes me grind my teeth till they chip. Just read the IMDB comments for the film, and you'll find it.
Scott:
Yea, that is incredible AndrewK. Godzilla films are so fantastic, but that one with Mathew Broderick was the worst ever. I will refuse to watch that film ever again and I do not and will not NEVER, EVER consider that film to have anything to do with GODZILLA.
That one a couple years ago with the CGI creature was more like JURASSIC PARK. People can really miss the point of what makes a good movie.
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