Synopsis

After French nuclear tests in the South Pacific create a giant mutated reptile, biologist Niko Tatopoulos is sent to investigate. The creature travels through the Panama Canal and reaches Manhattan, where it causes widespread destruction while searching for a nesting site. As the military closes in, Niko and a small group of allies try to locate the monster and prevent an even larger catastrophe.

Factoids & Trivia

• TriStar originally planned a trilogy of Godzilla films. An earlier version was developed from a screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, with Jan de Bont attached to direct, but de Bont left after budget disagreements.

• Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin replaced the earlier creative team and redesigned Godzilla as a fast-moving, animal-like creature rather than the slow, upright monster associated with Toho's films.

• The visual effects combined computer animation, miniatures, an animatronic upper-body model, and a Godzilla suit used by stunt performer Kurt Carley. The finished film contained about 400 digital-effects shots, including roughly 185 featuring Godzilla.

• Principal photography began on May 1, 1997, and ended on September 26, 1997. New York scenes were filmed in 13 days, while additional material was shot in Los Angeles and Hawaii.

• The United States Marine Corps participated in the production. Marine Reserve pilot Colonel Dwight Schmidt piloted the F-18 used in the sequence depicting the military attack on Godzilla.

• The teaser trailer showed only a giant foot crushing a Tyrannosaurus skeleton in a museum. It played before screenings of Men in Black and generated strong audience interest before the creature's full design was revealed.

• Fruit of the Loom lost its license to produce Godzilla merchandise after images of the redesigned creature were leaked online in November 1997.

• The film was followed by the animated series Godzilla: The Series, which continued the story in a different direction after the planned live-action sequels were abandoned.

• Although the film earned approximately $379 million worldwide, its reception was disappointing to many critics and longtime Godzilla fans. Toho later used the name "Zilla" for this interpretation of the monster in Godzilla: Final Wars.