Trivia / Godzilla 2000

• Approval of God: Toho actually approved of the edits made to the US version of the film; commending the tighter editing, more lively dialogue, and sensible use of Woolseyism.
• Better Export for You: In an irony of fate, the US version of the movie has the best video and audio presentation for any DVD release of the film, with an anamorphic widescreen presentation and 5.1 surround sound that are clearer and brighter than the Region 2 release, as well as some nice extras. Considering the film was released on DVD at a time when it was still acceptable to put out what would now be considered Vanilla Editions, that's quite an achievement.
  • Add to that the American theatrical run. The US version is considered superior to the Japanese version, mainly due to alot of cuts being made to tighten the film up.
  • While Takayuki Hattori's score is generally enjoyed by the fandom (he'd previously scored Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and was later brought back for the Godzilla anime trilogy), a lot of scenes, including the final battle between Godzilla and Orga, simply have no music. The US dub incorporates new music cues composed by J. Peter Robinson, including a theme for the JGSDF taking positions overlooking Godzilla's landing point, as well as (perhaps most surprisingly) a darker rendition of one of Godzilla's themes when Godzilla does battle with his mutated doppleganger. In the Japanese cut, the film's final scene features Godzilla using his atomic breath to destroy a large swath of the city while Hattori's somewhat majestic Godzilla theme plays; in the US version, Rodan's bombastic theme (used to convey chaos and destruction during the Showa era) plays instead, before seguing into Godzilla's more traditional theme for the credits.
  • The Japanese cut on the official U.S. Blu-ray. The picture quality is noticeable less vibrant in colors and not as polished compared to the American cut or the Japanese Blu-ray and there’s no 5.1 Channel audio option like the Japanese Blu-ray release either, but the 2.0 stereo mix is still solid overall, and it averts the dubtitles problem the other "Toho Godzilla Collection" sets suffered from by actually being an accurate translation of the Japanese language.
• Dueling Dubs: There are apparently two individual Spanish dubs of the U.S. cut of the film: A dub produced in Mexico for the majority of Latin America and Spanish speaking audiences in the U.S., and another version done separately in Argentina.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: It was a common theory near the time of release that the Godzilla featured in this movie was the adult Godzilla Jr. from Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (the official English soundtrack for the film even states this as a fact). This turned out to be false, as the movie has no direct connection to previous films except the 1954 original. The theory does have merit, though, such as the Godzilla of this film and Godzilla Jr. being green, and Godzilla Jr. having a very similar hunched-over posture as the MireGoji design.
• Recursive Import: Like Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, the U.S. version had a brief limited theatrical engagement in Japan.
• Unspecified Role Credit: While it's the first film to credit the dub actors for the US release, none of the actors are identified with their roles.
• What Could Have Been:
  • This film wasn't meant to exist. Toho was planning to retire Godzilla from 1995 to 2004 to so that the US could have their run for the series. Unfortunately, Godzilla (1998) happened, which resulted in the negative reactions to some, even Kenpachiro Satsuma walking out the theater saying, "It's not Godzilla. It does not have the spirit". As a result, Godzilla was released from retirement four years earlier than the intended 2004.
  • As is standard for Godzilla movies, Toho had an "International dub" for Godzilla 2000 produced in Hong Kong. However, when Sony dubbed the movie and produced the American version (intentionally making it cheesy as a send-up to the Hong Kong dubs of the 60s and 70s), Toho liked it so much that they decided to not release the International dub. The American version still contains at least one line from the International dub, however.
  • After the unexpected success of the American release, the writer for the dub and Joe Dante tried putting together a script for an American sequel set in Hawaii featuring Christopher Lee, Bruce Campbell, Leonard Nimoy, with the special effects being done by Toho. However, the studio's head was changed during the script writing process, and he wasn't interested in movies that cost the required budget for the film ($20 Million).
    • The plot of the film would have had Godzilla rampaging his way through the Hawaiian Islands during a scientific conference in Honolulu, gradually making his way to Mauna Loa. However, the military manages to knock Godzilla out during this rampage (originally he was supposed to die, but Toho requested that be changed), only to discover Godzilla's target: a lava bat kaiju dubbed Miba resting in the volcano. Godzilla is then revived to do battle with him.
  • King Caesar and Anguirus were considered to appear in the film, but ended up being discarded. Also doubles as Executive Meddling because Toho claims that they don't have much confidence in Anguirus and King Caesar's abilities to draw in big box office numbers compared to, say, Mothra and King Ghidorah.
  • Orga was originally going to drag Godzilla into its mouth with tentacles, but Toho forgot to add the CGI in.
  • Early drafts of the script had Junior as the Godzilla in the movie, and had direct reference to the events of the Heisei series. He was removed from the story by Shogo Tomiyama in order to create a unique Godzilla and because reusing Junior meant reusing the old Heisei design and Toho wanted to redesign the monster.
• Word of God: Although it's stated nowhere in the film itself, according to Toho in certain materials, the film's Godzilla is the second of its kind and the events of the 1954 film can be acknowledged as having occurred.