While theMonsterVerseis alive and roaring today with films likeGodzilla: King of the MonstersandGodzilla Vs. Kong, Legendary’s successful franchise wasn’t the first attempt at bringing the cinematic monster to America. That honor goes to 1998’sGodzilladirected byRoland Emmerichand starringMatthew Broderick. Now, in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary this year,Godzillais getting a new monstrous 4K steelbook.
The 4K/Blu-ray combo pack steelbook has Godzilla front and center in the middle of New York City. That’s what made this version so intriguing at the time as we’d never seen a beast like Godzilla wreak havoc on American soil. It was the perfect time too since Emmerich made the 90s the decade of thedisaster moviewith films likeIndependence Day. This isn’t the first timeGodzillais coming to 4K, but this release comes with a handful of bonus features like a visual effects commentary, “All-Time Best Godzilla Fight Scenes”, and “Behind-The-Scenes ofGodzillawithCharles Caiman”.
Godzilla King of the Monsters
WhileGodzilla1998 has never been that well received thanks to somebizarre creative decisionsand hilariously bad lines like “that’s a lot of fish”, the film in the modern context of the series has a unique charm to it. Emmerich’s version of Godzilla was more of a dinosaur-like creature with much longer legs then we were used to seeing from the character. That makes this Godzilla a towering presence and, if you were a kid watching this film in the early 2000s, it effectively gave you nightmares. Also, given that this was an Emmerich film in the director’s prime, the spectacle of this monster movie is still impressive including most of the effects work. Seeing New York get destroyed never gets old and this film does offer some unique ideas that visually mirror other hit movies at times likeJurassic Park. This includes Godzilla being female and having babies. The currentAmerican franchiseis better in almost every way and theJapanese Toho seriesis going strong, but there’s somethingoddly fun about the 1998 versionthat keeps us coming back to it 25 years later.
When Does ‘Godzilla’s Steelbook Release?
Godzilla’s 4K steelbook is stomping onto store shelves July 17, 2025. Check out the cover below:
