Godzilla

by Stephen Molstad

Is it Thunder-or Footsteps? A devastating, blinding flash lights up the sky above a Polynesian atoll. The island is no more. All that is left is a towering mushroom cloud that slowly drifts away.

The Pacific Ocean boils and churns though there is no storm in sight. A fish-processing ship goes down, leaving only a single survivor: a catatonic sailor, too terrified to speak.

Gigantic footprints plow an ominous path through the Panamanian rain forest, crossing the isthmus from west to east and disappearing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Off the North Carolina coast, a ship suddenly capsizes and is dragged under the sea.

An inexorable wave of destruction, incessant and mysterious, is heading north, toward a tiny, densely populated island called Manhattan

In the motion picture event of thedecade, the blockbuster filmmaker Dean Devlin adn Roland Emmerich bring the biggest monster of all time to the screen: "Godzilla " As the towering terror methodically dismantles Manhattan, nuclear scientist Nick Tatopolous is called in to do what the combined forces of the U.S. Army and Air Force can't--

Stop him

Nick's only hope--and New York's last chance--is to join forces with Phillipe Roache, an enigmatic insurance investigator leading a team of odd characters who are assessing the damages even as they occur. Neither team leader trusts the other, but they must bury their differences fast, before the marauding monster buries Manhattan under its own rubble. For like a genie from the bottle, Godzilla came to life with three wishes and all three are coming true: Destroy Destroy Destroy

Capturing all the terror and grandeur of the spectacular film from the creators of the smashhit "Independence Day," this exciting novelization straight from the screenplay brings to life the most awesome movie monster ever. "Godzilla" is here in all his gruesome glory. He's about to reach out and touch someone.

Pray it isn't you.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Media Tie In, Monsters, Fantasy

314 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[CrossingJordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 Sterne

[TheGeeksAttic · Rating 1 out of 5]

A full review and discussion of this novelization by the Paper Movies Book Club is on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/nFCSLRdfKXQ

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favourite, I think the first novel I ever read in the early 2000s. Will always love it.

[Noel Thingvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a fascinating novelization, due entirely to the way Molstad approaches it. By writing it as a first-person non-fiction book penned by the main character, Nick Tatopoulos, several years after the events of the story, Molstad gives it a nice meta sense of self parody and humor as the character is revealed to have a bit of a self-inflating ego and some sillier aspects of the story are explainable as fantastical musings on his part. Unfortunately, while Molstad uses this technique to add some great after-the-fact anecdotes about where characters end up, the style often feels forced when Nick is suddenly describing scenes in detail despite the fact he wasn't present. And then there's the fact that it's based on a really silly mess of a script that, while fast and entertaining and brought to life surprisingly well through Molstad's pulp/action prose, is riddled with plot holes and lacks anything resembling depth or genuine consequences. If you're a fan of the movie, definitely check it out. If, like me, you've got a thing for the art of film novelizations, it's worth a read to witness the technique. Everyone else, no need to trouble yourself.

[Mothpit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I don't really remember the film, but I liked this book. And I absolutely adored how a giant reptile could run circles around the military when it came to strategy.

[Israha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Knihu jsem si pořídil coby skalní fanoušek a sběratel všeho, co souvisí s "kaiju eiga", a nutno říct, že jinou než sběratelskou hodnotu bohužel nemá. Obsahuje novelizaci Emmerichova filmu z roku 98, která je v podstatě doslovným přepisem filmového scénáře, a jediné, co nabízí navíc, je lepší profilace hlavní lidské postavy. Druhou částí je pavědecká úvaha nad tím, jestli by obří plazi v mořských hlubinách mohli skutečně existovat. Tato pasáž se citacemi odborných poznatků snaží tvářit jako něco smysluplného, ale ve skutečnosti jde jen o záhadologickou honbu za seznací, jak to bylo v devadesátkách moderní. Třetí a poslední část obsahuje faktografické ohlédnutí za původními japonskými filmy s Godzillou a nějaké zákulisní detaily a názory na samotný Emmerichův film, přičemž hlavně ta historická část obsahuje řadu nepřesností a zmatečných informací. Celkový čtenářský zážitek pak ještě více devalvuje absence zásahu korektora, takže chybami, překlepy a těžkopádným překladem se text jen hemží, a korunu tomu nasazuje zcela chybějící část děje v rámci novelizace, tam prostě pár kapitol prostě a jednoduše zmizelo. Velmi špatná publikace, skalním nabízí jen zmíněnou sběratelskou hodnotu, a náhodný čtenář udělá lépe, když se podívá na film a faktografické věci si v ucelenější podobě najde na fanouškovských webech.

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first person narrative was very confusing, as it still tells events outside of the main character's perspective through the third person.



Speaking of which we do get to see more of Nick's personal life and he comes off very unlikeable and smug, but we don't really see what happens with the monster which I was hoping for, and there was no real good monster action apart from what happens in the movie. It's just blagh!

Easy to read but I get a bit wary of books with longer chapters as it can lead to some dull stretches, most of this is just barely developed caricatures talking in rooms.

I can't recommend it, you're better off just watching the movie, it may be longer but the scenes are a lot more fun.

3/10

[Charles Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The film script and plot is not good, there's little a novelisation can do about that, but Molstad still makes this a fun read through HOW he does it: which is he turns it into a memoir by Dr Tatapolous. Suddenly, we get extra characterisation for him on how he views the world around him, his takes on the characters he meets, his tirades on the environment, and his scientific curiosity into "Gojira". And that's a very clever bit by Molstad, since in the film "Godzilla" is a smarmy tabloid journos' mangling of a Japanese word, Tatapolous consistently uses the 'correct' word "Gojira". It's a great show of the creative stuff a novelisation can do.

[D.H. Dhaenens · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is... Not a good book. I don't recommend it unless you're a huge fan of the franchise.

The main character Nick just comes off as a huge douche, and the writing isn't great either. To cover instances where the main character isn't present, Molstad initially uses framing devices like "something that must have gone like this..." Before literally describing the scene. Later in the book he completely gives up on even trying to justify these perspective changes and just changes pov without as much as a paragraph break.

Regardless, it's still an entertaining rehash of the movie and the novel also has some stills from the movie featured.

[Saskia (Smitie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit boek is niets minder dan domme monster actie. Geen diep verhaal, geen mysterie, geen diepgaande personages. Prima voor een leeservaring die niet veel van je hersens vraagt, maar deze Amerikaanse versie van het Japanse supermonster is niet zo indrukwekkend. Ik heb de film nooit gezien, dus ik weet niet of deze boekversie nog een meerwaarde heeft zoals extra scenes en diepgang.

[Jaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this one! I prefer this one to the movie! The image of Godzilla is waay better in here! I mean, how I see him here! If you have the chance to read this novelization do it! I lost count of how many times I've read it !

[Fred Lusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is almost exactly like the movie

[Michael Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has that old retro theme and doesn't really have originality to it so I guess it could have been worse.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed a whole lot more the book than the movie.
100/100

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reviewed this book on my blog:
The Real World According To Sam

[G. Salter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt suspenseful when I read it. At age 12 or so. Even then the characters seemed annoying.

[Àïda Bargalló · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho he de dir... es millor que la peli
Puc empatitzar molt mes amb els personatges, i fins i tot amb el bo d'en Godzy

[Wyatt Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Godzilla is about some guys who try to kill this big monster who is destroying New York city. They tried all they could do to kill it, they eventually they killed it. They found out that it laid eggs and it was trying to protect the eggs. Then the eggs hatched and there was thousands of Godzilla and it was a crazy zone, read the book to find out more.
One problem was they were going through a big room with huge chandelier hanging over head and it was filled with mini Godzilla's it was like a war zone. They tried to get them to move away but they couldn't get any of them to move so they got there guns and shot the chandelier and it fell down and hit the Godzilla's and made them move out of the way of the falling chandelier. They shot all of the chandeliers in the row and they cleared a way for them to walk through. Then they got through and were able to get out of there safely.
I think it was a good book not the best but a good book. I recommend you to read it if your into dinosaur type books. The book is a little bit boring at some parts in the book. But all in all it is a decent book.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Watched this the other night. It's prescient. But of what?

a) The destruction of NYC? They hit the Chrysler Building & Brooklyn Bridge rather than the Towers (but the early '90's hit on the Towers was duly noted).
a.5) [is this maybe a Truther movie? because Our Guys did most of the destructioning?]
b) The passionate/insane/irrational hunting down and extermination of Muslims?
c) Or maybe it was a nostalgia piece from the days when we were hunting down and exterminating Communists.
d) Either way, "ideology at its purist".

[discuss]

[Carina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Para mi sorpresa, no fue una historia que odiara ni que me resultara aburrida o pesada de leer —probablemente mis bajas expectativas ayudaron—. El inicio me agradó, así como el tono general del libro y ciertas escenas de acción. No obstante, la trama y personajes —lo que considero más importante— sí que fueron flojos, por consiguiente, aunque la disfruté por momentos, no puedo recomendarla.

[Ronald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Best part of this book was the six pages of colored stills from the film in the middle.