Am I the only person here who LIKED the 1998 version?
I'm actually watching it right now, having not seen it since 1998. It's not as wretched as some make it out, but it's also, in many ways, not good. For example, I'd like Godzilla to remain a consistent scale from one scene to the next, and I don't care for the mean-spirited spoofing of Siskel and Ebert.
Overall, however, I'm seeing it more and more as a remake of BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS than anything else. It'll probably get a two barrel review on Radiation-Scarred Reviews.
As for the new remake, CGI or rubber suit doesn't matter to me. What's important is the spirit, which I'm not sure will happen here, because there seems to be something of a fundamental disconnect in giant monster movies between Japan and America. America doesn't seem to like monsters that the military can't kill, and very rarely do we allow monsters to truly be characters in their own right (contrast King Kong and Cloverfield).