It may be a minority view but I agree with you. As a "realistic giant monster", Zilla would have been a perfect rival for the U.S.'s only iconic giant monster, King Kong. The American film company didn't think things through when they gave Japan back, the Godzilla name AND the Zilla design.
If possible, I would have sold the name back but kept the creature design. Slap a new name on it for the American audience and to appease the legitimately angry Japanese audience, shrink it down to Kong's size and make a few movies with the two of them.
After that I'd get to work adding other "realistic giant monsters" to the American monster roll call. I'd like to see a Grizzly Bear monster, a Wolverine, an Alligator, a Rattlesnake, a pack of Gray Wolf monsters, and a Wild Hog added to the line up. Some smaller/weaker monsters like a Skunk, Snapping Turtle, Black Widow Spider, Freshwater Catfish, and a Bald or Golden Eagle would be cool too.
The monsters wouldn't necessarily be good or bad--they'd just fight each other to protect their own territory. Zilla and Kong would be the apex monsters who don't care about other monsters' territorial boundaries.
As for the Japanese monsters, I wouldn't even try to compete with them... but that's just what I would've done.
JD
If possible, I would have sold the name back but kept the creature design. Slap a new name on it for the American audience and to appease the legitimately angry Japanese audience, shrink it down to Kong's size and make a few movies with the two of them.
After that I'd get to work adding other "realistic giant monsters" to the American monster roll call. I'd like to see a Grizzly Bear monster, a Wolverine, an Alligator, a Rattlesnake, a pack of Gray Wolf monsters, and a Wild Hog added to the line up. Some smaller/weaker monsters like a Skunk, Snapping Turtle, Black Widow Spider, Freshwater Catfish, and a Bald or Golden Eagle would be cool too.
The monsters wouldn't necessarily be good or bad--they'd just fight each other to protect their own territory. Zilla and Kong would be the apex monsters who don't care about other monsters' territorial boundaries.
As for the Japanese monsters, I wouldn't even try to compete with them... but that's just what I would've done.
JD
last edited over a year ago