Giant Creatures & Monsters Movie Madness!
These on this list are some of the 'Giant' Monsters on film I have seen so far. I will continually upgrade it as I see more and more Monster films......
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- DirectorColin TrevorrowStarsChris PrattBryce Dallas HowardTy SimpkinsA new theme park, built on the original site of Jurassic Park, creates a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus Rex, which escapes containment and goes on a killing spree.Also starring: Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, BD Wong, Judy Greer, Omar Sy, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Tee, Jimmy Fallon, Katie McGrath, Colby Boothman, Matty Cardarople, Michael Papajohn, and Colin Trevorrow
There is a statue of the character John Hammond, the founder of the InGen genetic company and Jurassic Park. Colin Trevorrow explained this is to specifically honor Sir Richard Attenborough who played the role in Jurassic Park (1993) & The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Attenborough had spoken in the past of possibly making another appearance in the franchise but his failing health made it highly uncertain. Unfortunately, Attenborough passed away August 24th, 2014. Hammond is implied to have died prior to the events of the movie, evidently writing Attenborough's death into the franchise as well.
The first Jurassic Park film to not have animatronic dinosaurs created by Stan Winston, as he passed away in 2008. Instead the animatronics were created by effects studio Legacy Effects, a company formed from Winston's former workshop staff. One of the shops in Jurassic World, Winstons, is named in Stan's honour.
The holograms of the Velociraptor and the Dilophosaurus in the educational center are from scenes in the original film, Jurassic Park (1993). The Velociraptor is from the kitchen scene where Lex and Tim were attacked. The Dilophosaurus is footage is from when Nedry was attacked.
Jeff Goldblum's character Dr. Ian Malcolm can be spotted on the cover of a book that is read by Zara (Katie McGrath) on the monorail ride in to the park. A copy of the same book, titled "God Creates Dinosaurs" is later shown on Lowery's (Jake Johnson's) desk in the control room when he is first introduced. A book by Malcolm about his first trip to Jurassic Park was mentioned in both The Lost World and Jurassic Park III.
When Zach and Gray find the main building of the original Jurassic Park visitors center, it is decaying and overrun with vines. There's a lot hidden within this scene, including the "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" banner that fell after the T-Rex's final attack, as well as the bones of the staged Dino-fight. There's also the back-lit painting of a raptor, just like the one behind which a Raptor stalked Lex and Tim. Gray also plays with the night-vision goggles that were featured in the T-Rex sequence.
Bryce Dallas Howard's character is dressed in all white, thus paying homage to Richard Attenborough's character in original film. Both were directors of their respective parks.
Colin Trevorrow came up with the idea of featuring Mosasaurus, the film's main marine reptile which you see in the trailer. He pitched the idea to Spielberg of having the Mosasaurus feed on a shark in front of bleachers filled with park guests. Spielberg loved the idea of the Mosasaurus eating the shark but suggested that when the animal grabs the shark that the whole bleacher section submerge underwater using a hydraulic system so that the audience will be able to see the Mosasaurus feeding underwater. The moment where the Mosasaurus soaked 200 extras in the bleacher section was Colin Trevorrow's favourite moment of shooting.
In an interview on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Bryce Dallas Howard says that the little boy hugging the long neck in the petting zoo is her real-life son.
Lauren Lapkus improvised the line, "I have a boyfriend." Colin Trevrow liked the line so much that he kept it in the films final cut.
The Jeep #29 that the kids repair and drive away from the original visitors center is the same one ridden in by Hammond and Genarro in the original film. The Jeep #18 that Owen and Claire hide behind is the one ridden in by Grant, Sattler and Malcolm when they first arrive on the island in the original film.
A Spinosaurus skeleton can be seen in the "City Walk" area of Jurassic World. It alludes to the creature in Jurassic Park III (2001), and could possibly be its actual recovered skeleton.
In the scene with the ACU in the forest there is a nod to Dr. Malcolm's explanation of Chaos Theory in the original Jurassic Park. In Jurassic Park, Dr. Malcolm explains Chaos Theory by dropping two drops of water on the same spot of Dr. Satler's hand and showing that they drip in different directions. In Jurassic World, when Hamada finds the Indominus Rex's tracker, the blood drips twice on his forearm and drips in opposite directions.
A popular fan theory has it that Chris Pratt's character is the grown-up version of the boy that Grant intimidates with a raptor claw at his dig site. Owen's being able to anticipate pack hunting behavior, then, could be explained by the warning Grant gives in the first film. Owen also says that to work with the raptors, he has to show them respect--something Grant also warned about. The original actor, Whit Hertford, dismisses the idea, saying "Guys like me don't grow up to look like Chris Pratt."
Phil Tippett returns to crew as Dinosaur Supervisor, reprising his role from the original film.
When the boys first arrive at the park, a voice over the loudspeaker advertises "Chilean Sea Bass" on the menu. In the original movie, Hammond states that Chef Alejandro has prepared Chilean Sea Bass for everyone.
First film in the Jurassic Park series to feature an open fully functional dinosaur theme park. In Jurassic Park (1993), the park was under construction and not yet open, and in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park: San Diego wasn't entirely completed and lacked dinosaurs.
When Gray and Zach first walk into the visitors center, there are multiple screens above their heads, some of which advertise Jurassic Tennis. This same attraction was first teased in Jurassic Park on the "coming soon" television advertisements, seen around the room during the dinner scene.
During early stages of development, Harrison Ford was set to star in this film but dropped out due to the quality of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) among other reasons.
Many elements on this movie, were actually part of Michael Crichton's book "Jurassic Park". For example: When Mr. Masrani and Dr. Henry Wu discuss about the new dinosaur, Dr. Wu tells him "Nothing we have here is natural!" thats a dialogue taken from the first book "Jurassic Park", but in the book Dr. Henry Wu tells this to John Hammond.
Bryce Dallas Howard and Judy Greer are sisters in the film. They also played sisters in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004).
When first introduced, Ty Simpkin's character is looking at an old View-Master reel of dinosaur images from the 1956 Irwin Allen film The Animal World, featuring visual effects by Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen, both of whom pioneered the classic "dinosaur battle" sequence.
After Owen comments on Claire's "ridiculous" shoes during their spat after finding the empty gyrosphere, Claire rolls up her sleeves and ties her shirt in the same manner as Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) did in "Jurassic Park", announcing she is "Ready to go.".
Jurassic World (2015) opened at cinemas on 12th June 2015. Jurassic Park (1993), the first film in the series, was released on 11th June 1993.
The velociraptors of Owen's pack all bear names from the first few letters of the NATO phonetic alphabet used by the military: Charlie (C), Delta (D), and Echo (E), with the notable exception of Blue (B), normally Bravo. The letters probably indicate their place in the pack's pecking order. The Alpha (A), or dominant member of the pack, is Owen himself.
When "Jurassic Park 4" was still in development, Laura Dern was attached since 2007, as the only confirmed cast member, and stayed so until the plans were scrapped. With two appearances within four films, she, B.D. Wong, Sam Neill, Richard Attenborough and Jeff Goldblum are the most ubiquitous actors of the franchise. Of Jurassic World (2015) she has said that she is "curious and excited" about the film, but jokes that she's relieved to not be a part of it: "I'm thrilled not to be chased by dinosaurs in this movie. I am tired".
Brothers Zach and Gray are attacked by an oversized dinosaur in their gyrosphere vehicle. This is a homage to original Jurassic Park (1993) siblings Lex and Tim Murphy upon being attacked by a T-Rex in their Ford Explorer ride vehicle. In both cases, the vehicle is overturned, the dinosaur breaks the glass and pushes it around, and the creature's attention is unwittingly drawn by a mechanical device (a flashlight in Jurassic Park, a vibrating cell phone in Jurassic World).
Irrfan Khan's character states that he can see an animal's happiness in its eyes, this is similar to what he says in "Life of Pi" where he plays an older version of the boy stuck on a raft with a tiger.
In the original Jurassic Park, in the mining scene, it is mentioned that Hammond is spending time with his daughter (Timmy and Lex's mom) because she is going through a divorce. This is further referenced in subtext when a half-traumatized Lex repeats the phrase "He left us!". In Jurassic World, Gray mentions to Zach that their parents are going to get a divorce. Thus, containing another element of the first movie. The theme of broken families and absent fathers is a trademark of "Jurassic Park" director Steven Spielberg.
This is the first sequel where only one of the original characters appears. In The Lost World there was Malcolm, Hammond, Lex and Tim. In Jurassic Park 3 there was Grant and Sattler. In this film there is only Dr Wu.
During the scene in the film where the Velociraptors chase after Zach and Gray in the back of the van, the soundtrack playing is the from "The Forest Explodes" a theme from the Raptor levels in the 1997 video game The Lost World: Jurassic Park (which Michael Giacchino also composed the soundtrack for).
The character Lowery in the control room wears the same glasses as Nedry from the in the first film.
In the film, Zachary and Gray discuss the ghost in their old house that Gray was scared of. Ty Simpkins, who plays Gray, stars in the Insidious films, where he and his family are consistently plagued by paranormal spirits.
During the scene where Zach and Gray are on the Monorail, a version of the Indiana Jones theme can be heard.
Bryce Dallas Howard's character gives no regard for the holographic dinosaurs in the visitor center. She simply walks right through them, completely unimpressed. This symbolizes her view of the dinosaurs as nothing more than data, rather than living, breathing animals.
n the scene where Claire is driving the van attempting to outrun the raptors, she briefly looks in the driver's side mirror only to see the raptors catching up to the van. A similar occurrence happened in the original Jurassic Park when Muldoon looks into the driver's side mirror to see the T-Rex gaining on the jeep as he, Dr. Sattler and Dr. Malcolm are attempting to outrun it.
Many members of the cast have appeared in films/series based on Marvel comics:
Chris Pratt played Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Bryce Dallas Howard played Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Ty Simpkins played Harley in Iron Man 3 (2013)
Irrfan Khan played an Oscorp executive in The Amazing Spider-Man (Omar Sy played Bishop in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
'Michael Papajohn' (who has a minor role as an InGen staff member) played the carjacker in Spider-Man (2002) and a driver in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) (coincidentally, he works for a character played by Irrfan Khan in both films).and Vincent D'Onofrio played Wilson"King-Pin" Fisk in Daredevil (2015).
This marks the second time that Bryce Dallas Howard has starred in the 4th installment of a movie franchise. She also starred in Terminator Salvation (2009). In both instances, she did not star in any of the previous movies in the franchise.
Early in the film when Chris Pratt's character Owen rescues an employee from the raptor pen, his only escape was a dangerous roll under a closing cage door to safety. The move was similar to that of Indiana Jones. Speilberg directed the first two Jurassic Park films as well as the Indiana Jones films. This could be possible proof of Chris Pratt's rumored cast contention as the new Indiana Jones when the fifth entry in that film is released.
Cameos:
Brad Bird: The director of The Incredibles (2004) provided the voice of the monorail announcer.
Jimmy Buffett: A running tourist, appropriately carrying two margaritas. A branch of his "Margaritaville" restaurant chain can be seen on the Jurassic World "City Walk".
Jimmy Fallon: Himself. It's an homage to the cameo he makes in the Universal Studios tram tours. He discusses similar safety instructions and also uses the same type of humor in both. - DirectorHyung-rae ShimStarsJason BehrAmanda BrooksRobert ForsterOnce in 500 years, ancient mythical creatures come to Earth, wreaking havoc and destruction. This time they must be stopped.Also starring: Aimee Garcia, Chris Mulkey, Elizabeth Peña, Billy Gardell, Geoff Pierson, Eloy Casados, Matthias Hues.
Ethan Kendrick: You can't do this. This is insane. You're the FBI!
Agent Frank Pinsky: Trust me. I've done my homework. There's no other way.
Ethan Kendrick: Look. If you kill her, those creatures will still come back.
Agent Frank Pinsky: Right. In another 500 years. Until then...
[pulls pistol]
This marked the first Korean production in nearly three decades to receive wide theatrical release in the United States.
The music associated with Muraki and his army makes extensive use of the "Dies irae" melody, a medieval chant traditionally used in ceremonies for the dead and, since the nineteenth century, in contexts evoking the macabre and supernatural. - DirectorGordon HesslerStarsJohn Phillip LawCaroline MunroTom BakerSinbad and the vizier of Marabia, followed by evil magician Koura, seek the three golden tablets that can gain them access to the ancient temple of the Oracle of All Knowledge.Sinbad: Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel!
Harryhausen paid tribute to one of his inspirations, The Thief of Bagdad (1940), with this film. Both had the same composer, and Kali's dance copies many moves of the six-armed robot in the 1940 film. The Hindu-style temple in the 1940 film is echoed in the Hindu-style carvings of Lemuria, and the look of the Lemurians is based on the 1940 film as well; there are other echoes and influences to be seen by those familiar with both films.
Miklós Rózsa was one of Ray Harryhausen's original choices (along with Max Steiner) to score The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), but Charles H. Schneer persuaded Harryhausen to agree to hire Bernard Herrmann instead. While Herrmann ended up scoring four of Schneer and Harryhausen's films, he was not available for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), so Harryhausen finally got his wish to have Rózsa score a Sinbad movie.
Robert Shaw desperately wanted the role of Sinbad but was placated by being cast uncredited as the Oracle. His face was heavily swathed in make-up and his voice electronically altered by a sound engineer.
Christopher Lee was a front runner for the role of Koura.
This film helped Tom Baker get the lead role in Doctor Who (1963)
The closed-captioner for this movie decided to have some fun with Prince Koura's lines. When Koura says his unintelligible magic spells to summon the dark spirits against Sinbad and his crew, the captions for the first time he does that read, "SSFUP AOCOC ROF OOKCUC MI" (which is IM CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS spelled backwards); and subsequently, "TTIBBAR YLLIS. YLNO SDIK ROFERA XIRT" (that reverses to TRIX ARE FOR KIDS ONLY. SILLY RABBIT). - DirectorNoriaki YuasaStarsEiji FunakoshiHarumi KiritachiJunichiro YamashitaFrom out of the arctic comes a gigantic flying, fire-breathing turtle that sets its sights on destroying Tokyo.Eskimo Chief: Mr. Hidaka.
Dr. Hidaka: Yes?
Eskimo Chief: This is the legendary stone handed down from our fathers.
Dr. Hidaka: Is this the turtle that lived on the Arctic continent?
Eskimo Chief: Yes. It is the devil's envoy, Gamera.
This is the only film in the Gamera series that was filmed in black and white.
This is the only film in the series with Gamera as the antagonist.
This is the only film in the series in which Gamera does not fight another monster.
A sequence with Gamera attacking two strippers in a nightclub was shot, but cut from the final finished version of the film. - DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsMatthew BroderickJean RenoMaria PitilloFrench nuclear tests irradiate an iguana into a giant monster that heads off to New York City. The American military must chase the monster across the city to stop it before it reproduces.Sergeant O'Neal: I can't believe it, uh... he did all of this and... we did nothing to him.
Dr. Niko Tatopoulus: Ah, that's not true. We fed him.
The number of the cab used in the chase at the end of the movie is MN 44. Moon 44 is the title of an earlier film that was directed by Roland Emmerich and in which Dean Devlin appeared.
Elevator music in a scene with Matthew Broderick is "Danke Schoen", which Broderick lip-syncs in a memorable scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
A small statue of an alien from Independence Day (also directed by Roland Emmerich) is visible in the broadcast booth at Madison Square Garden.
2,000 foam fish were made to create the fish pile.
2.4 million gallons (~321,000 cubic feet), of water was used to create rain for the film.
The television station call letters, WIDF, are a reference to the film Independence Day (alias ID4), also made by the team of 'Dean Devlin (I)' and Roland Emmerich.
Before Hank Azaria's character runs atop cars to get footage of Godzilla, he looks up and says Aw Jeez, using the voice of his character Moe Szyslak on The Simpsons.
The first sequence of the AH64-Apache gunships hunting Godzilla through the streets references both Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back with the line "Echo 4 to Echo Base" and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope with "He's right on my tail! I can't shake him!" Both lines were spoken by Luke Skywalker ('Mark Hamill').
Matthew Broderick's character's name is Dr. Niko Tatopoulos. Godzilla's designer and supervisor is 'Patrick Tatopoulos (I)'.
Mayor Ebert and his assistant Gene are spoofs of film critics Roger Ebert and his late partner Gene Siskel. This is in response to the duo giving negative reviews to Emmerich and Devlin's earlier films Stargate and Independence Day. When mayor Ebert is introduced he holds up two thumbs, the mark given by Siskel and Ebert to movies they like the most. Mayor Ebert's campaign slogan is "Thumbs Up For New York!". And when Gene disapproves of Mayor Ebert's latest platform (of exploiting the Godzilla disaster for his own benefit) he gives him a thumbs down. When the actual Siskel and Ebert reviewed the film on their show, it received two thumbs down and Gene Siskel commented on being spoofed in the film; he said it was "petty" and asked the filmmakers "if you're going to go through the trouble of putting us in a monster movie, why don't you at least take advantage of having the monster either eat or squash us".
The policeman seen during Godzilla's arrival is the same policeman (both played by same actor) seen suddenly leaving his patrol car in the middle of an intersection in Independence Day.
Tomoyuki Tanaka had produced all of the Japanese Godzilla movies. He died only a month before this film began actual production. This film is dedicated to him.
Tôhô Co. Ltd., the Japanese film studio that owns the rights to Godzilla (Gojira) agreed to allow an American version to be made, but only if the US studio followed a set of guidelines in order for the film to properly "capture the spirit of Godzilla"; both Script and Creature Design were immediately approved and, according to 'Patrick Tatopoulos (I)' in the making of Book of the film, the members of Tôhô Co. Ltd. were impressed with his sketches of the final design.
The original plans called for two sequels to be produced. These plans were scrapped due to the poor reception of this film.
Half way through a screening, Kenpachiro Satsuma, who played Godzilla from 1985-1995, walked out saying It's not Godzilla. It doesn't have the spirit.
The film had quite of a backlash amongst the fan base of the original series. The fans conceived a nickname to distinguish this film from the original; it was G.I.N.O., which is an acronym for "Godzilla in Name only", indicating their despise for it. Tôhô introduced in the series a Monster called Jira in _Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)_ which was meant to directly reference the creature.
The original script and Godzilla design were going to be very different to what had made it into the film. The script had Godzilla as a thousand years hibernated Reptilian Monster, that upon its awakening encountered and fought a shape shifting Alien Monster called during production "The Gryphon". Both creatures were designed by 'Stan Winston' and the film was to be directed by 'Jan De Bont'. At the withdrawal of De Bont (that in the end went to direct Twister because of budget constraints, Roland Emmerich and 'Dean Devlin (I)' were hired, changing the script to adapt it more to the budget the studio had offered for the film.
This movie features more Simpson voice actors than any other project besides The Simpsons itself: Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and Nancy Cartwright. The Simpsons and its creators are huge Godzilla fans and Godzilla, and his roar is used quite frequently in the show.
The film's first teaser trailer began appearing in theater a full year before the film was released. The trailer contained a shot of Godzilla's foot coming through the roof of a museum and crushing a T-Rex skeleton. This scene was cut from the final version of the movie. It cost $600,000.
'Dean Devlin (I)' maintains that the tag-line for this movie, "Size Does Matter", was meant simply to differentiate the movie from Jurassic Park - hence the original "museum" trailer - but that the advertisers for the studio took it too far with their over-zealous campaign (e.g. "His foot is as long as this bus"). The ads became the biggest focus of the backlash against the movie. Most notable was a temporary page set up by the programmers for the website of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace that mocked the "Godzilla" green glow and read "Plot Does Matter." However, when The Phantom Menace was released, Star Wars fans mocked George Lucas for making a Star Wars film where plot did not seem to matter as much as special effects. Another backlash came from Spielberg's DreamWorks trailer for Small Soldier, featuring a giant lizard being hog-tied by a group of action figures. This trailer has the tag-line, "Size doesn't matter.
When this modern remake was first conceived in 1990 James Cameron was originally offered the chance to direct. When he passed Tim Burton was connected for a few years, with Joe Johnston's name bandied about for some time also. Paul Verhoeven was going to direct but he passed on the project. Then Jan de Bont was attached and set to direct but his budget for the film, estimated at $150 million, was higher than the studio was willing to pay. After he was let go, Roland Emmerich and 'Dean Devlin (I)' came in.
Godzilla wasn't supposed to have any breath weapon at all in this movie until an outraged fan poll demanded it.
In a television interview, Matthew Broderick said that the entire cast were given wet suits to wear underneath their costumes while filming in Hawaii. He was upset because his wet suit zipped up in the back, which made it difficult to put on every day. One day during a break in filming, he was talking with co-star Hank Azaria, who had his shirt off, revealing a wet suit that zipped up in front. Broderick remarked, "Oh, your wet suit zips up in front." Puzzled, Azaria replied, "They ALL zip up in front." Broderick had been putting his wet suit on backward every day.
Roland Emmerich admitted that he did not like the original Godzilla movies - he only agreed to the project after being promised to be able to do what ever he wanted with the series.
'Patrick Tatopoulos (I)', who designed the new Godzilla, states that the creature design mixes elements of various Reptiles; also, he wanted the creature to be imposing and to inspire respect. To achieve that, he was inspired from the character Shere-Kan featured in The Jungle Book; the Tiger had a noticeable chin and Tatopoulos applied this characteristic on his design, taking the appearance of it from what he refers to be a "Selfin Dragon". He also gave the creature humanoid shoulders and hands, very similar to the features included in the original design.
An animated series called Godzilla: The Series was made which continued the storyline of the film. In the series, Tatopoulos accidentally discovers the egg that survived the destruction of the nest. The creature hatches and imprints on Nick as its parent.
Harry Shearer's character, Charles Caiman, is a reference to a crocodile type lizard, the Caiman, native to S. America.