Entertainment, the mammoth kind

IT WILL be an earth-shattering experience, on screen. Godzilla, the moving incinerator, has been re-invented for the new millennium.

``Godzilla 2000'', from Tristar Pictures due for release this month, is the 23rd Godzilla film. People never seem to tire of this awesome creature that probably triggered mammoth destruction epics such as ``Jurassic Park'', ``Volcano'', ``Twister'' and ``Anaconda''. In ``Godzilla 2000'' the leviathan faces a new foe, Orga, an alien transmuted from a UFO and one that has been lying dormant for 6,000 years. The special effects wizards of Japan, and director Takao Okawara, who is well versed in this genre, seem to have worked overtime to create a treat for lovers of giant-sized sci-fi thrillers. Experienced special effects director Kenji Suzuki has scaled incredible heights in visual effects with the help of unimaginable hi-tech advancements and an able team.

Screen writer Kashiwabara wanted the new Godzilla to usher in a fresh series of Godzilla flicks. Turning Nature and its Universe totally upside down was the idea. And what is not possible with so much hi-tech help at hand?

Godzilla, in ``Godzilla 2000'' is a dreadful, frightening and formidable moving gargantuan creature who is absolutely cool too. He has a huge mouth, razor-sharp teeth, large neck, burning eyes and new ``designer- wear'' dorsal fins. His atomic breath emits laser-like fire. Nearly 500 CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) shots have been used, says director Okawara. But there is reality too, to a certain extent, in ``Godzilla 2000''. A real lighthouse has been filmed and the huge fishing boat that you will see in Godzilla's mouth, was built from real wood. The pub that Godzilla destroys and the submarine were actually built for the film. The huge footsteps of the monster were engineered with the aid of bulldozers.

Godzilla is unique mainly because he has a personality. I mean, he is not the stop-motion animation kind. Inside the large Godzilla suit is a real man, stuntman and gymnast Tsutomu Kitagawa. ``I got goose bumps when Okawara called me to play Godzilla. Great Godzilla stuntmen have worn the suit in earlier films. I am relatively small'', he says with humility.

When Kitagawa first got into the suit, he could not breathe. The dorsals were too heavy. ``It was like carrying two people on my back'', he recalls. Soon, he got used to it and became Godzilla itself. Kitagawa himself did most of the close-ups too. ``But playing Godzilla is not for the claustrophobic'' he warns.

Japan's famous screen and television actors comprise the cast of ``Godzilla 2000''.

``This is the first time I have seen Godzilla this close'', says the scientist in the film, a Gregory Peck look-alike. The audience could feel so too.

If destruction and devastation are more poignantly and creditably created in ``Godzilla 2000'', it could probably be because the Japanese have suffered the world's worst disaster in reality - the atomic bombs.

Nevertheless when computer wizardry and science and technology come together, a conglomerate of this kind is the natural outcome. So gear up folks, and get ready for the arrival of the new Godzilla.

MALATHI RANGARAJAN

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Entertainment
Previous : Film Review: Hide And Seek
Next     : A shooting star