The Godzilla Trailer is out, having been released at 1 PM EST / 10 PM PST, and it’s awesome. If you’ve not seen it, here it is:
As you can see, someone should call San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee that his city is about to be destroyed by Godzilla. The one brief scene showing San Francisco’s almost complete obliteration, with the City by The Bay red with fire and smoke, and recognizable only by the still-standing Transamerica Pyramid, is haunting.
Into that civic inferno jumps Aaron-Taylor Johnson and a group of soldiers conducting what’s called a “Halo Jump.” HALO refers to a “high altitude – low opening” parachuting maneuver. From the trailer, it’s obvious they’re headed right for the scene of the action, and that’s Godzilla, who appears to be located, and on the move, right in the Financial District.
From that point, we see various scenes that can be summed up as either destruction or panic. This is not anything like the 1998 Godzilla movie, and looks to be every bit the kind of Godzilla movie fans have wanted for some time.
And this is my review:
In all, Gareth Edwards’ version of Godzilla, written by Max Borenstein, looks to be a masterpiece work.
Here’s Edwards introducing the trailer:
The social media reaction has been entirely positive, even if it did not result in reaching the Twitter Trend chart. These tweets give a flavor for how the Godzilla Trailer has been received:
'Godzilla' Teaser Trailer: It's San Francisco's turn to get demolished, by @emilyyoshida http://t.co/hZMlUxIwV8
— Grantland (@Grantland33) December 10, 2013
Destruction reigns in Godzilla's fiery 1st full trailer http://t.co/DWJ65NUfSb
— Jonathan Mao (@noj) December 10, 2013
Godzilla trailer was cool .. Look to have kept to the Japanese ideology rather than that abortion that came out in the 90's
— Krish (@Krishan_Mamba24) December 10, 2013
Godzilla trailer is out,looks pretty sick. Brings back some old memories of watching the classic versions with @Aaron_Cooney and my dad
— Ian Cooney (@theCoon36) December 10, 2013
There’s not a bad tweet in the bunch, but the overall volume’s not hitting the marks for Twitter Trends. Now, that’s because there wasn’t a social media plan to actually reach that mark – there should be one.
On the other hand, if Edwards and company have another kick-ass trailor up their sleeves, all they need is a more coordinated social media effort to make a giant, Godzilla-sized splash.
An epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.
Gareth Edwards directs Godzilla, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Oscar® nominee Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Inception), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Oscar® winner Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Cosmopolis), and Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), with Oscar® nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck., The Bourne Legacy) and Bryan Cranston (Argo, TV’s Breaking Bad).
Edwards directs from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, story by David Callaham, based on the character Godzilla owned and created by TOHO CO., LTD. Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing with Mary Parent and Brian Rogers. Patricia Whitcher and Alex Garcia are serving as executive producers, alongside Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar®-nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Anna Karenina,” “Atonement”); production designer Owen Paterson (The Matrix trilogy); editor Bob Ducsay (Looper); Oscar®-nominated costume designer Sharen Davis (Dreamgirls, Ray, Django Unchained); and Oscar®-winning visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel (the Lord of the Rings series). The score is being created by Oscar®-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat (Argo, The King’s Speech).
Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present a Legendary Pictures production, a Gareth Edwards film, Godzilla. Slated to open on May 16, 2014, the film is expected to be presented in 3D, 2D and IMAX® in select theatres and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, except in Japan, where it will be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. Legendary Pictures is a division of Legendary Entertainment.
Stay tuned.
Bill Carroll