Year: 1998
Runtime: 139 min
Language: Japanese
Director: Roland Emmerich
Budget: $130M
Following French nuclear tests, a massive prehistoric creature emerges, unleashing devastation upon New York City. A desperate US military mobilizes to stop the giant monster, facing a race against time to prevent its offspring from causing further destruction and widespread panic.
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Nuclear experiments in French Polynesia lead to the transformation of an ordinary lizard into the colossal mutant, Godzilla. This fearsome creature makes its way to New York City, wreaking havoc on ships and drowning fishing fleets in its path. Amidst the chaos, the French secret service locates the last surviving fisherman who utters the word “Godzilla.”
Enter scientist Niko “Nick” Tatopoulous (Matthew Broderick), who is conducting research on the impact of radioactivity on mutations stemming from the Chernobyl disaster. His findings reveal how this catastrophe altered the DNA of earthworms, resulting in their growth to sizes 17% larger than before. Nick is soon summoned to assist a team tackling the Godzilla crisis. In Panama, he meets Col Hicks (Kevin Dunn) and Elsie (Vicki Lewis), where Elsie, a representative from the National Institute of Paleontology, becomes Nick’s supervisor for this mission.
Meanwhile, Audrey (Maria Pitillo), a struggling assistant newscaster in New York City, hopes for a promotion that remains elusive, thanks to her boss Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer), who continuously poaches her best stories. When Nick and his team travel to Jamaica to collect flesh samples from a boat devastated by Godzilla, they encounter Phillipe Roache (Jean Reno), who claims to be from an insurance company yet secretly has his agenda.
After analyzing the creature’s trajectory, Hicks concludes that Godzilla is making its way toward the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. Nick posits that the creature is a mutated hybrid, a direct result of the previous nuclear testing. Upon arriving in New York, Godzilla brings destruction, only to mysteriously vanish within the city’s extensive underbelly. As Nick makes his way to NYC, Audrey spots him on television, reigniting old feelings and professional jealousy concerning her own career.
Lucy (Arabella Field), Audrey’s best friend, and her husband Victor (Hank Azaria), who also works as Audrey’s cameraman, manage to capture footage of Godzilla, catapulting Victor to sudden fame. Meanwhile, Hicks sets up a mobile command center in New Jersey. The crew learns that Godzilla is hiding in the subway tunnels beneath the city.
In a strategic move, Nick advises using fish as bait to lure the creature out. When Godzilla reappears, the ensuing melee results in widespread devastation. It’s revealed that Godzilla is a cold-blooded creature, complicating military maneuvers against it. Nick discovers that the creature is pregnant after taking a blood sample. Tensions escalate when Audrey stealthily appropriates Nick’s confidential data for a news report, only to have it claimed by Charles as his own.
As a consequence of the report, Nick’s reputation suffers, leading to his dismissal. With the assistance of Roache, who is actually affiliated with the French Secret Service, Nick learns of Godzilla’s origins linked to the nuclear tests. Together, they seek to locate Godzilla’s nest, while unbeknownst to them, Audrey and Victor are covertly following them.
In a thrilling climax, the Army sets a trap to capture Godzilla. Nick ultimately discovers the monster’s nest located in Madison Square Garden, housing 200 eggs. As the hatchlings emerge, they instinctively search for food. In a desperate plea for action, Audrey broadcasts live from the scene, urging the military to destroy the building before these creatures can escape.
Nick calculates the terrifying potential of these hatchlings—each born pregnant, leading to a possible surge of 40,000 Godzillas in under a year. The Airforce responds in time, obliterating the site just as Nick and his team vacate. Unfortunately, Godzilla arrives, enraged and seeking vengeance. The survivors manage to lure the beast into a trap at the Brooklyn Bridge, successfully orchestrating its destruction with military support.
As the dust settles, Roache absconds with all the footage captured by Audrey, leaving a chilling sense of uncertainty, particularly with one egg remaining from the catastrophe.
Last Updated: November 03, 2024 at 21:56
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Fast-paced thrillers where a metropolis faces destruction from a colossal creature.If you enjoyed the high-stakes destruction in Godzilla, explore more movies where giant monsters wreak havoc on urban landscapes. These films deliver similar levels of fast-paced action, military response, and the desperate struggle for survival against a colossal threat, perfect for fans of epic monster battles.
Stories in this thread typically follow a straightforward pattern: the sudden emergence of a massive threat, the ensuing widespread panic and destruction, and a frantic, often military-led effort to stop the creature before it's too late. The narrative is driven by escalating action and a clear, urgent goal.
These films are grouped by their shared core premise of a city under attack by a giant monster. They create a cohesive experience through their high intensity, tense tone, fast pacing, and focus on survival and spectacle over deep character drama.
Thrillers where human hubris unleashes a dangerous and rapidly escalating threat.For viewers who liked the theme of nuclear consequences in Godzilla, this thread collects movies about scientific hubris creating uncontrollable threats. These tense, fast-paced stories explore the dangerous fallout of human ambition, featuring races against time and endings that often carry a warning.
The narrative pattern involves a cause-and-effect chain directly linking human action (often scientific or military) to a dangerous outcome. The story becomes a frantic effort to mitigate the crisis, emphasizing the urgency and scale of the problem rather than deep psychological exploration of characters.
These movies share a common thematic core of 'science gone wrong' and the resulting chaos. They are united by a tense, urgent tone, a focus on managing a rapidly escalating situation, and a narrative that questions the limits of human control over nature or technology.
Don't stop at just watching — explore Godzilla in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Godzilla is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.
Track the full timeline of Godzilla with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.
Discover the characters, locations, and core themes that shape Godzilla. Get insights into symbolic elements, setting significance, and deeper narrative meaning — ideal for thematic analysis and movie breakdowns.
Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Godzilla that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.
Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Godzilla: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.
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