San Diego Comic-Con 2013: An EXCLUSIVE Look inside The Godzilla Encounter! Video and Images

Steve Barton   |  

Jul 17, 2013

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With our Kaiju obsession reaching fever pitch thanks to Legendary’s Pacific Rim, the main thing we care about this Comic-Con is the Big G himself. With news of an interactive offsite event, Dread Central was one of the first in line to experience The Godzilla Encounter…

…which turned out to be the coolest and most elaborate promo we’ve ever seen at SDCC!

And not only do we have photos, but three different videos of the experience – a walkthrough, an interview with a Legendary rep, and a live video showing everything we experienced up until the point where our cameras had to be turned off.

Using the Godzilla Encounter app, visitors track down the location to a battle-damaged warehouse outside the Convention Center. We entered the building and found a Kaiju lover’s wet dream: a recreated Tokyo street, complete with Godzilla figure and prop displays, storefront televisions blaring disaster coverage, and a full-on Ramen bar stocked with Japanese chefs and businessmen that actually served us sushi! Among the various comics, toys, clothes, and overturned vehicles, they even had the original Oxygen Destroyer prop from the very first Godzilla on display.

Visitors are given free reign of the place and can also use the Godzilla Encounter app on their phones to snap hidden Legendary Pictures logos and translate Japanese signs to unlock special goodies from the movie.

After walking around in awe for several minutes, sirens blared and panicked authorities came running out, waving us all into a “restricted” area. At this point, we were told to turn the cameras off as we were ushered into a military control room, scanned for radioactivity, and then forced into an elevator to get off the ground floor. As the elevator ascended, we were jolted by violent tremors and forced to unload into an office near the top floor. Our guides instruct us to wait by the tower window and keep quiet. Right on cue, the giant head of Godzilla passes by our window, quaking the building and roaring. He passes by us, and just as we think we’re safe, he takes notice and roars up to the window. Our guides panic and pull us out of the room – ending our encounter with the big guy.

The rep told us that the Godzilla we encountered wasn’t the final look of the creature in the film – but if it’s anywhere near the beast we saw, consider us happy fan boys! Well played, Legendary!

Tickets for The Godzilla Encounter are AVAILABLE NOW with details on how you can secure them! The secret passcode for the tickets is SERIZAWA, the name spelled out in the viral images from the past couple of days!

The Godzilla San Diego Comic-Con panel happens on Saturday, July 20th. Click here for the details.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Richard T. Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, David Strathairn, Patrick Sabongui, Yuki Morita, Brian Markinson, Juliette Binoche, Akira Takarada, Victor Rasuk, C.J. Adams, and Ken Watanabe star.

Gareth Edwards is directing the film from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, Frank Darabont, and Dave Callaham. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing with Mary Parent and Brian Rogers. Alex Garcia and Patricia Whitcher are serving as executive producers alongside Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira.

Check out the Godzilla Encounter website to keep track of Big G’s path of destruction!

A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Godzilla will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, except in Japan, where it will be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. Legendary Pictures is a division of Legendary Entertainment.

Slated to open on May 16, 2014, the film is expected to be presented in 3D.

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