Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization (2014)

Monsterverse novelizations
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Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization Author(s) Greg Cox, Akira Katagiri (translator)JP Publisher Titan Books; KadokawaJP Publish date May 20, 2014 July 25, 2014JP Genre Novel, film adaptation, science fiction ISBN ISBN-10: 1783290943 ISBN-13: 9781783290949

This page is about the novelization of Legendary Pictures' Godzilla. For the novelizations of TriStar Pictures' GODZILLA, see GODZILLA (HarperPrism novelization) and GODZILLA (Scholastic novelization).

Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization (ゴジラ,   Gojira, lit. "Godzilla") is a novel written by Greg Cox based on Legendary Pictures' Godzilla. It was published by Titan Books on May 20, 2014.

Description

“

A powerful story of human courage and reconciliation in the face of titanic forces of nature, when the awe-inspiring Godzilla rises to restore balance as humanity stands defenseless.

„

Differences from the film

• In an extended opening, the USS Nautilus surfaces at Bikini Atoll, its arrival reminding islanders of a sea monster.
• Godzilla emerges from the sea a few seconds earlier, and roars as the Castle Bravo countdown ends. Witnesses are unable to look on at the explosion due to the intense light.
• Vivienne Graham is established to have been Dr. Ishiro Serizawa's assistant for years prior to 1999.
• The authority of the mining company who greets the Monarch officials is named Oscar Boyd instead of Jerry Boyd, and is anxious throughout the scientists' investigation.
• Serizawa and Graham visit irradiated survivors of the Universal Western Mining collapse. Footage from this scene appears on Godzilla's DVD and Blu-ray bonus features.
• As Serizawa and Graham investigate the cavern, they come across the corpses of laborers who were sent in to retrieve survivors. This was filmed for the movie, but ultimately cut.
• A camera at the power plant captures the larval male MUTO's hooked limb as it burrows beneath the reactors.
• Unlike in the film, Joe never sees Sandra before evacuating the power plant. Her radio communication "You have to live. For our son." is the last that he hears from her.
• Ford Brody meets Elle and Sam at Travis Air Force Base after returning from his tour of duty. Sam is shy around him at first. A photo of this scene was available on the promotional site MUTOResearch.net, and footage is present in the film's B-roll.
• Ford talks to a customs official at Narita Airport on his way to post Joe Brody's bail. This scene was shot with prolific kaiju actor Akira Takarada as the official, but it went unused. It was ultimately released as a deleted scene in the 2024 4K boxset Godzilla/Kong Monsterverse 5-Film Collector's Edition.
• When Ford witnesses a Japanese couple picking up their teenage son from the police station, they tearfully embrace him instead of scolding him. The boy's face paint is also smudged from crying.
• While staying at Joe's apartment, Ford offers to take Joe home with him, to which Joe accepts. However, Ford later awakens to hear Joe conversing with a man over radio, indicating that he has other plans.
• Ford watches an old movie where "giant prehistoric creatures [battle] each other amidst balsa-wood sets" at Joe's apartment.
• The dogs which pass by Joe and Ford as they walk through the Janjira Q-zone are rabid, and the two men have to avoid them to reach their old home.
• Before taking off his gas mask, Joe consults not just a Geiger counter but sensors on his and Ford's radiation suits.
• The male MUTO's influence causes electronics and lights to turn on throughout Janjira, starting while Ford and Joe are exploring their former home.
• Just before Joe and Ford are arrested, the sound of a guard cocking his rifle prompts them to turn around. In the movie, they hear a van pull up instead.
• Ford wears handcuffs for the entire time that he is trapped inside the security van. He attempts to wriggle free from the cuffs to the point that they draw blood from his wrists, but is only freed once the crane falls on the van.
• The bald man with Dr. Ishiro Serizawa is the head scientist of the MUTO facility. His dream is to resolve the world's energy crisis with the discoveries made on the organism he supervises, as Monarch aims to learn how the creature can convert radiation into energy.
• Serizawa intends to participate in Joe's interrogation personally, but doesn't get the chance.
• When the male MUTO tears apart the Monarch containment facility, Joe saves Ford's life by warning him of a falling crane. Unfortunately, it knocks over the gantry where he was standing, mortally wounding him.
• Joe's final words to Ford are, "Bring an end to this. Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes."
• Serizawa says "Godzilla" instead of "Gojira" when introducing the monster to Ford. His third-person narration explains that "[t]he name was derived from a legend of the islands: a mythical king of monsters known as Gojira."
• The crew of the USS Saratoga gives Joe a burial at sea. As he watches his father's flag-covered body slide into the Pacific, Ford realizes that neither of his parents had proper burials.
• The damaged inflicted by the female MUTO to the Las Vegas Strip is described in detail, including the replica of the Statue of Liberty. A shot of the Statue appears in the film's main trailer.
• An oblivious married couple clink champagne glasses as Godzilla closes in on Honolulu. This moment was present in the footage that Warner Bros. screened at WonderCon 2014.
• Godzilla uses his atomic breath against the male MUTO during their first battle in Honolulu.
• Elle's call with an airline representative takes place after the female MUTO attacks Las Vegas, instead of after the male MUTO leaves Janjira.
• During their flight to Lone Pine, California, Ford talks to the doomed Sergeant Morales, who reveals that he and his wife are expecting a baby daughter in a week.
• Citizens stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic gape as Ford's train loaded with ICBMs speeds towards San Francisco. A girl holding a teddy bear catches his eye.
• The ICBMs the military plan to use against the MUTOs are said to each have a yield of 300 kilotons of TNT. In the film, their yield was mentioned to be in the megaton range.
• Admiral Stenz reveals to Serizawa that his father served aboard the USS Indianapolis when it was transporting parts for the atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima.
• Ford feels "the thrum of high-tech sonic weapons" as the U.S. military battles the female MUTO in the distance.
• As they approach a tunnel, an EMP emitted by the female MUTO buffets Ford and his fellow soldiers. Footage of this moment appears in the film's B-roll.
• After recovering from the female MUTO's attack on the train, Ford notices the remains of one of the cars caught in traffic earlier, as well as a teddy bear.
• Sam is nearly trampled during the evacuation of San Francisco after he follows some soldiers, looking for his father. The aftermath of this scene was shown in the film proper.
• A squadron of F-35s attack Godzilla after he smashes through the Golden Gate Bridge and approaches Alcatraz. Their attacks injure him somewhat. This battle appears in some merchandise for the film.
• The meeting between the two MUTOs is omitted.
• Ford briefly reunites with Sam at the Oakland Coliseum before leaving to assist the military's efforts to disarm the ICBM abducted by the male MUTO. As promised, he gives Sam a toy Navy soldier he found in his old Janjira bedroom.
• Before he leaves for the HALO jump, Serizawa hands Ford a photo of him and his parents and tells him that his father would be proud.
• An EMP from the male MUTO prevents Godzilla from firing a second blast of atomic breath to finish off the female. Godzilla's signature weapon is described as having a bioelectric component.
• The same EMP breaks all of the soldiers' flashlights, interrupting Ford's efforts to disarm the ICBM while inside the MUTOs' nest.
• Godzilla kills the male MUTO by ripping off one of his wings, then tackling him into a building.
• The female MUTO spares Ford after he destroys her nest because she notices the ICBM on the move, not because of Godzilla's intervention.
• After firing his atomic breath at her, Godzilla beheads the female MUTO "with a single swing of his arm."
• Godzilla and Serizawa briefly lock eyes before Godzilla wades back into San Francisco Bay.

Appearances

Monsters Godzilla MUTO (winged male; eight-legged female; unborn offspring) Dagon (skeleton)

Weapons, vehicles, and races USS Nautilus USS Bairoko C-17 Globemaster USS Saratoga Borei-class submarine F-35 Lightning II AH-64 Apache Littoral combat ship CH-53E Super Stallion M1 Abrams IAV Stryker

Gallery

• 

  Alternate cover

• 

  Japanese version

Trivia

• In June 2014, Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization placed 18th on The New York Times' Best Sellers list for mass-market fiction in paperback.
• Numerous deviations from the film resemble moments present in the June 2012 screenplay, such as the death of the female MUTO. This makes the novelization read like an in-between of the 2012 screenplay and final film, due to having been penned whilst the film was still in production.

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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