Day 15 - What is the first film you saw in cinemas?

Answer: Godzilla (1998)

To be completely honest, I'm not a hundred percent sure what exactly the first film I ever saw in a theater was. It could've been this one. It could've been some other movie. I don't really know for sure. However, for the sake of the challenge, I'm going to go with the earliest film I do remember being in a theater and watching on the big screen. That film would be Hollywood's first attempt at adapting The King of the Monsters. I didn't catch this film during it's initial run at the box office. Or maybe I did? I don't know if catching a movie at the discount theater after it's made it's way through the full price theater counts as being part of the box office sales. I just know I saw this in a dollar theater and not in a regular one. This was probably the first Godzilla movie I've ever seen too. So, I kind of walked into this film with some bright-eyed optimism. I've kind of always loved dinosaurs and kaiju films. I remember looking at this movie and being reminded of Jurassic Park.

The plot is pretty simple. It's Godzilla in America. This film kind of does it's own spin on the Godzilla mythos. An iguana nest was effected by some radiation fallout sometime in the 1960s. One of those iguanas mutated over the years and became Godzilla. Fast forward to present day 1998 and Godzilla finds its way to New York City. Destruction ensues. Military gets involved. We find out this incarnation of Godzilla is female and she's a mommy. She lays a nest of eggs below Madison Square Garden. We get some scenes reminiscent of the raptor scenes in Jurassic Park with some baby Godzillas. That sort of makes the comparison even stronger. Eventually, the military ends up pissing off Godzilla by killing its young. Another fight occurs. We kill Godzilla, but not before revealing that there was one surviving baby egg. Possibly a sequel? No. No sequels were made. We got an animated series for some reason though. That's something.

By today's standards, this isn't a good Godzilla film. Some might not even consider it a good film in it's own right. I think Toho Studios kind of begrudgingly acknowledges this films existence. They don't even call this version Godzilla. No. They shorten it to just "Zilla". It's referred to as "GINO" too. Godzilla In Name Only. I don't know. I watch the movie now and it's okay. I don't think it's that bad. I mean, it's not great if you're comparing it to the history of Godzilla that came before it. Sure. I get that. The monster in the film is not really anything like what Godzilla is supposed to be. I guess you can call it my "nostalgia goggles", but I look back at the film fondly. I still find some enjoyment out of watching it.

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