Anyone who has been in the Godzilla fandom long enough has heard the term “GINO” at one point or another. GINO, of course, meaning “Godzilla In Name Only”, in reference to the 1998 installment produced by Tristar Pictures. While numerous individuals in the community know of this term, few know of its direct origins. I was lucky enough to find the major source of the term coinage, being known film critic and G-Fan Magazine contributor, Richard Pusateri. Both of us had been sharing email correspondence over the span of a few months leading up to G-FEST 2023, because I needed some volunteers for my Godzilla 1998 panel. Unfortunately, he was unable to be on my panel, but let me know he was in attendance. I also came to learn that he was on set for some time of the film, so I had to know more. Recorded at G-FEST this year, here is my interview with Richard about the GINO phenomenon within the fandom.
NC: First off, why did you call it “In Name Only?”
RP: In May of 1998, I went to a press screening at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. After I saw the movie, I was a little let down. It didn’t look like the Japanese character, it really didn’t have radioactive breath, and the vocalization was so different. I also didn’t know how to feel when he was killed so easily with rockets. So in my review for G-Fan I wrote, “I call this character, ‘Godzilla In Name Only’, or ‘GINO’.”
NC: How did you come up with the abbreviation? Just the fact that it wasn’t really true to the character?
RP: Honestly, I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. At the time, Republican politicians in California were accused of being too mild, and people sometimes called them Republicans In Name Only, RINO’s. So I basically adopted the name from that.
NC: When did you notice that “GINO” was starting to catch on, and how did it feel knowing you were responsible for coming up with it?
RP: I was amused, especially considering I didn’t think much about it. People started using it online and told me they liked it. I remember I overheard two guys talking about the movie at a party and one of them said “Yeah, I heard somebody came up with the name ‘GINO’ and that’s what they’re calling it now.” I enjoyed that very much, sort of being a fly on the wall and hearing someone talk about my comment. I’m happy to take ownership of it, and when I started coming to G-FEST, people would identify me as the one who coined the term.
NC: You mentioned in your emails that you had some anecdotes about the production. Can you elaborate more on that?
RP: Yes, I went down and watched them make the movie. When I would be driving on the freeway at night you could see Downtown Los Angeles was all lit up because there were so many lights with cables and trucks running for blocks and blocks just to power them all. It was a huge production, there were two units filming simultaneously and since they couldn’t fence off the 10-20 square blocks they were filming on, you could just go onto the set and walk around so that’s what I did. The production was so big I actually ran into people off-set who were working on the movie. The brother of my girlfriend’s friend was a model maker and his scene got cut down to only a few frames. He was angry about that cause they had worked for months on it and it just went by in a flash. There were also all these subcontractor groups working on the film who would wear these “Godzilla Crew” T shirts and you would see them walking around town. A friend of mine worked at an electronics supply store and a crew member came in and said “I need a bunch of tiny light bulbs, I’m working on the new Godzilla movie.” Ironically, he also said, “It’s more of a remake of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.”
NC: That’s really interesting considering how secretive studios and crews are these days when making movies. This guy went to your friend’s store and straight up said “We’re making the new Godzilla movie but it’s not really Godzilla.”
RP: I don’t think they signed NDAs back then, and honestly, there were so many subcontractors working on that movie, It would’ve been hard to find out if someone said anything.
NC: So bring me back to you on set.
RP: It was an open set that anyone could walk onto. When I first walked on I noticed something up the street, and as I walked towards it a production assistant tapped my shoulder and asked, “Excuse me sir, are you with the crew?” I said, “No.” He said, “Well I’m sorry you’re gonna have to leave, we’re trying to film.” And as I turned around, I saw a camera crew signaling the PA like “Get him out of our shot.”
NC: Did you see anything being filmed that you later recognized when you watched the movie?
RP: One scene that I definitely recognized was there were trucks with machine guns in the back and they were making sharp left turns and the trucks are kind of going up on two wheels when they make that turn shooting their guns. And there was the scene in the subway, they built a fake subway. Matthew Broderick was going up and down in it and I watched them film that. In those days I worked till Midnight, so I’d just jump in my car, drive to Downtown L.A., and walk around the set.
NC: Was this a regular thing? Like each night you got off work and went down to the Godzilla set?
RP: I probably went down there about 4 or 5 times.
NC: Thank you for sitting down with me.
In the world of the Godzilla fandom, GINO has become legendary when referring to the notorious film that has celebrated its twenty-fith anniversary this year. Just as Milton Glaser didn’t put much thought into his iconic “I Love New York” design, Richard’s casual christening of GINO just goes to show that you never really know what’s going to catch on. Ever since Toho officially trademarked the character as “Zilla” in 2004, fans (especially new and younger ones) seem to be using that name more and more. While it makes sense to call the character by its officially licensed name, Richard and I think GINO is catchier.
