In terms of plot, the only major change that America has brought to the movie is shooting new scenes with the actor who starred in the first American edit of a Godzilla film Raymond Burr reprising his role as the journalist Steve Martin. Who's now refereed to as Mr. Martin since the actor and comedian Steve Martin was already making it big during the time of the film's release. The scenes that involve Burr is him going to the Pentagon to try to convince the army that Godzilla can't be stopped with weapons, which of course nobody listens to him, aaaand that's about it. There's really no point to these added in scenes. They add absolute nothing to the story at all. The acting from the American actors is just plain dreadful. How they interact with each other doesn't at all feel real, they sound like they're just saying their lines from the script which doesn't at all sound or feel natural. Burr himself even gives just as bad of a performance as all the other American actors, as he looks completely unhappy to be in another Godzilla film.
Also, while we're in these newly filmed scenes involving the Pentagon, we get a few shots of not so subtle "Dr.Pepper" product placement. I swear that moment with the two soldiers standing in front of a "Dr.Pepper" soda machine almost looks as if the people filming and directing this scene are trying as hard as they can to make the machine stand-out to be the certain of attention, rather than the boring and badly acted conversation that the two soldiers are having. The only reason why these scenes with Raymond Burr exist is because he was in the first American edit of Godzilla. And since this film is a direct sequel to the first American edit of a Godzilla film, the people behind the film felt that it was necessary to bring him back. I will give this American cut this. At least it does feel more like a direct sequel to the first Godzilla film, than the actual Japanese cut of this film.
When it comes to dubbing the Japanese actors in the film, it’s just as awful as I described all the other English dubbed Godzilla films that I had to review. Burr's character doesn't even know or interact with any of the Japanese characters in this film which is another reason why his presence is so pointless in this movie. At least in the first film he knew the leading Japanese characters, even though it was painfully obvious that he was talking to stock-footage or a stand-in for the actor who portrayed the character in the original Japanese cut. Like in many American cuts of a Godzilla film, a lot of the scenes from the original film have been rearranged, edited, shortened, and cut which for the most part are as unnecessary as adding in new scenes with Raymond Burr and dubbing the Japanese actors. I say for "the most part" because, there were one or two changes that I did like. The shortened fight between the Reporter and the mutated Sea Louse makes the Sea Louse look a little less phony. And the added screaming sound effect indicating that the Nuclear Power Plant security guard has been crushed by Godzilla’s foot when we first sees him makes Godzilla's introduction cooler than it already was. But with that said, the rest of the changes are pretty pointless.
The most unnecessary and infamous change when it comes to editing and adding in a new scene is the scene when the Soviets go against their agreement with Japan and launch an Atom Bomb at Japan to try to kill Godzilla; when in the original cut, the bomb was accidentally activated from Godzilla's damage towards the Russian Ship as the Captain tries to stop the bomb but dies in the process which prevents him from doing so. The change was obviously made as propaganda to make the Soviets look like untrustworthy assholes since we were at war with them at the time, which feels pretty uncomfortable to watch, especially since Japan already had a cut where both nations agreed to not nuke Japan. Though to be fair, it doesn't make much sense in the original cut either, because if the Russians agreed to not nuke Japan when Godzilla arrives, then why is there a Russian ship disguised as a freighter docked in Tokyo Bay that has a control system set to launch the nuclear bomb at Japan in the first place? And why the sudden change of heart since that seemed to be the Russians goal in the original cut? Also why aren't the Russians dubbed in the American cut as well? Why just have America and Japan speak in English throughout the movie? In fact, why make an American cut of the movie anyway?!
This film is 100% pointless! The added in scenes with Raymond Bur at the Pentagon are pointless, the dubbing is pointless, the rearranging of scenes and edits are pointless (with the exception 1 or 2 scenes); it's just an altogether pointless cut of a movie that should have never existed. As much as I dislike the first American cut of the first "Godzilla" film, it was at least responsible for marketing the monster outside of Japan which I do respect the film for successfully achieving. This cut on the other hand does nothing as important as what the first American Godzilla cut did. To make matters worse, there's no official DVD or Blu-ray release of the original Japanese cut in America, which makes tracking down an original copy of the Japanese cut very hard to find as Americans are substituted with this unnecessary Americanized cut of a film that may not be perfect (as I stated in my previous review), but is at least better than what this cut has to offer. Here's hoping that Americans (including myself) someday get an official release of the original cut. But until then, we're stuck with horrible dubbing, terrible acting, forced and unnecessary "Cold War" propaganda on Russia, pointless added in scenes, and in your face "Dr.Pepper" product placement, as we experience it all with a fine American actor who's clearly in the film for his pay-check.
RATING 0/5
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