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| Godzilla (2014), Source: Warner Bros |
If you’ve seen the full trailer for the new Godzilla, you know it’s pretty amazing. It also doesn’t reveal a whole lot about the movie. Fortunately, director Gareth Edwards was willing to do commentary for Empire on the trailer. His insights are fascinating, not only breaking down the trailer and what we’re seeing, but also giving insights into the movie itself. It’s like the movie commentary in miniature. And the bonus is that there are no spoilers.
Empire Magazine has the video, and I couldn’t see how to embed it, so here’s the link to their site. Here’s the original trailer:
If you didn’t watch the commentary or want more details, let’s review:
The Statue of Liberty Is Not In New York – If you look closely, you can see sand and a roller coaster in the background. Edwards was hesitant to spoil it, but fans have already figured out this shot isn’t of the statue in New York. It’s the replica Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas.
Bryan Cranston is The Man – Edwards also breaks down the scene where Cranston utters the immortal line, “It is gonna send us back to the Stone Age!” Edwards explains how he set up a complex and elaborate camera move, and intricate movement for that scene, and Cranston nailed the first take so well that Edwards abandoned his plans and left it in. Once again, Cranston shows he’s still got chops, even after Breaking Bad. Just makes me more disappointed that he didn’t get cast as Lex Luthor in Man of Steel 2.
The New Godzilla Pays Home to the Old Godzilla – Edwards talks about how Ken Watanabe describes awakening something in 1954. Edwards announced on set that they had just witnessed cinema history. What he’s referencing is that fact that the original Godzilla was released in 1954. That places the creation of the new Godzilla on the same date as the old one.
Godzilla-Busters – Edwards describes how the icon on the bomb is a reference to how soldiers often write or draw funny images on bombs before launch. In this case, the soldiers drew a sort of Ghostbusters-style icon of Godzilla on the bomb, showing it was intended to destroy the monster. According to Edwards, in the new Godzilla universe, the “nuclear testing” in the Pacific during the fifties were actually attempts to destroy Godzilla. Apparently, this was part of his original pitch to the studio which got him the job.
The Song from 2001 – One piece of music from the trailer is an excerpt from György Ligeti’s Requiem. If it sounds familiar, it’s because the same excerpt was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey when the monolith first appears. Edwards was apparently listening to the song on his phone when he conceived the HALO jump sequence.
This is Not a Tentacle – While there’s been much speculation as to what this is, Edwards specifically stated it’s not a tentacle holding the bomb. Sure looks like one, though. I don’t know what else it could be.
The Giant Skeleton – At one point, we see an enormous skeleton. While Edwards dodges around the facts behind it, he does say he wanted to ground Godzilla in reality, and ask questions about where it came from. Were there others of Godzilla’s kind? If so, where are they and where did they go? It sounds to me like this scene is a sort of kaiju graveyard where we see the remains of other giant monsters, similar to the giant ape graveyard in Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
The Roar – The original Godzilla roar is iconic. Edwards explained how the original roar was created with double base strings dragged by a leather glove. I kind of assumed they would just use the same roar again in the new movie, but the sound effects crew for the new movie had to recreate that roar in full Dolby sound. And it’s awesome.
[Via Moviefone via Empire Online]
What do you think of the trailer? What did you like about the commentary?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="35545 ">6 Comments
I loved his commentary, and the nods to the original are sweet. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what that thing holing the bomb, or bullet looking thing is. All I know is this will be awesome. Maybe Cranston could be cast as Lex Luthor's father. 🙂
See, that's why I'm not worried about the new Godzilla. Edwards is a fan and cares about the Godzilla mythos. I did catch the roller coaster by the Statue of Liberty. And being a military brat, I knew about drawing images on bombs. (And a whole lot of other things you'd be surprised to know about the military!)
The symbol on the bomb was what I figured.
Yeah, totally had to watch THAT trailer twice! Looks awesome. I really like the nods to the original. "Awakening" something in 1954 that's never really gone away. Nice. 😀
Clearly a movie that is heavy on Godzilla mythology. This is probably a good thing.
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