View source for Godzilla (1998 film)

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[[File:AmericanGodzillaShockscene_5322.jpg|frame|It's a good thing that this 'Zilla [[Samus Is a Girl|is a lady]], or else that tower would've needed protection.]]

''Godzilla'' is a [[The Nineties|1998]] American film [[The Remake|remake]] of [[Godzilla|the Japanese film of the same name]]. It was co-written and directed by [[Roland Emmerich]], director of ''[[Independence Day]]'' and ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'', and starred [[Matthew Broderick]], Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria and Kevin Dunn. The film spawned an animated sequel called ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]''. The film was released on May 20, 1998, by [[Tri-Star Pictures]].

The film follows the attacks of the titular creature on Manhattan, following his apparent creation via [[I Love Nuclear Power|radioactive fallout]] from atomic bomb testing decades before. The film follows the attacks, beginning with the off-shore attack of a Japanese fishing vessel and culminating in a confrontation of Godzilla and the American military in the Big Apple.

For the original Japanese fillm, see ''[[Gojira (film)|Gojira]]''. For the 1984 direct sequel, see ''[[The Return of Godzilla]]''. For the 2014 film, see ''[[Godzilla (2014 film)]]''

{{tropelist}}
* [[Acrophobic Bird]]: The helicopter pilots seem to always stay at mouth-level of the monster they're attacking.
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: The [[Godzilla: The Series|resulting animated series]], considered by many the best thing to come of the movie.
* [[Badass]]: Phillipe Roache.
* [[Bad Vibrations]]
* [[Captain Obvious]]: "That's a lot of fish!"
* [[Car Fu]]: When [[Jean Reno]] gets behind the wheel of a taxi, shit gets ''mad real''.
* [[Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys]]: Averted ''hard''. The French Foreign Legionaires that work with the protagonists are very competent, [[Cutting the Knot|knot-cutting]], [[Combat Pragmatist|pragmatic]] and professional soldiers.
** [[Redshirt Army|Who are all killed horribly by baby godzillas!]]
* [[Color Wash]]: The flashbacks that open the film are yellow.
* [[Driving Stick]]: [[Irony|American Nick telling French Philippe]] that the Army Hummer isn't in gear when trying to sneak into the subway system.
* [[Elevator Escape]]
* [[Epic Fail]]: The USAF ''blowing up the Chrysler building'' with two missiles meant for 'Zilla is an excellent example. Justified<ref>heat-seekers don't work well on lizards</ref> ''and'' Lampshaded.
* [[Expy]]: Harry Shearer's news reporter character, Charlie Caiman, has shades of a live-action [[The Simpsons (animation)|Kent Brockman]].
* [[Follow the Leader]]: Let's face it, the infant Godzillas were really only there because of the popularity of ''[[Jurassic Park]]'''s Velociraptors.
{{quote|[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Godzilla_1998.aspx?Page{{=}}9 One suspects that instead of scene descriptions here, there were twenty blank pages in the screenplay prefaced by one sentence: "Just like the Velociraptor attack in Jurassic Park." I think they actually owe DGA residuals to Steven Spielberg for this scene.]}}
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] - If you look closely (though God knows why), you can see Godzilla actually has a vagina [http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/023/2/7/godzilla__s_private_parts_3_by_jhin_roh-d4nej3g.jpg\]{{Dead link}}
* [[Giant Foot of Stomping]]: Used in the early teaser trailer, where Godzilla brings his might foot down on a museum's T. Rex skeleton in the middle of a kids' tour. Meant as a (typically nineties) [[Take That|wholly unnecessary potshot]] at ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', but really just comes off as kinda [[Monty Python's Flying Circus|Python-esque]].
** Happens on the film when a cab is crushed.
* [[Gonna Need More Trope]]: "We need bigger guns."
* [[Harsher in Hindsight]]: In a clip of a news broadcast covering Zilla's rampage through New York, the broadcaster says "...in what city officials are calling the worst act of destruction since the World Trade Tower bombing", referencing the bombing of the WTC in 1993. The film was released only three years before 9/11. Ouch. 
* [[In Name Only]]: The monster was nicknamed "GINO" ("Godzilla In Name Only") by Godzilla fans. Toho itself calls him Zilla (see [[Take That]], below).
* [[Jerkass]]: Charlie Caiman, who propositions Audrey despite being married, and strings her along with hopes of becoming a reporter while making her do all his work.
* [[Mama Bear]]: Zilla is both a [[Mama Bear]] and a [[Papa Wolf]].
* [[Mister Seahorse]]: Given Zilla is hermaphrodite...
* [[Monster Is a Mommy]]
* [[New York Subway]]
* [[No Pronunciation Guide]]: Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, [[Tuckerization|who was named for]] Patrick Tatopoulos, who worked special effects on the film and [[Truth in Television|has the same problem]].
* [[A Nuclear Error]]: The opening stock footage of a Nuclear Test isn't French footage but American test footage out of the Bikini Atoll. 
* [[The Remake]]
* [[Running Gag]]: All Philippe wanted was a decent cup of coffee.
* [[Scenery Gorn]]: Taken to some frankly awesome levels - Godzilla jumps through the [[Met Life]] building off-screen at one point, leaving a structurally-impossible 'Zilla-shaped hole in the middle.
* [[Sensor Suspense]]: Where the submarine is tracking Godzilla approaching them at a high speed.
* [[Sequel Hook]]: Didn't get a sequel, but continued in the animated series.
* [[The Stinger]]: The end has the {{spoiler|hatching of the last egg, leading into the [[Godzilla: The Series|animated series]]}}.
* [[Straw Critic]]: Mayor Ebert, a [[Take That]] at [[Roger Ebert]].([http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980526/REVIEWS/805260301/1023 "Now that I've inspired a character in a Godzilla movie, all I really still desire is for several Ingmar Bergman characters to sit in a circle and read my reviews to one another in hushed tones."])
* [[Suspiciously Stealthy Predator]]: Somehow 'Zilla's pursuers manage to lose track of a critter the size of an aircraft carrier on the streets of Manhattan.
* [[Take That]]
** [[Take That, Critics!]]: In retaliation for giving ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'' and ''[[Independence Day]]'' negative reviews, director [[Roland Emmerich]] had [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] versions of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel as the Mayor of New York and his aide (respectively). The bizarre thing is, nothing remotely bad happens to either of them (aside from having their city destroyed) and their only real character fault was incompetence (given this is their first monster attack, it's understandable). Both were considerably perplexed by this, with Siskel wondering that if Emmerich was going to go through the trouble of finding lookalikes, why not at least have Zilla squash them? (also, the extra in the car that is squished early in the film was intended to be a representation of J.D. Lees, editor of ''G-Fan Magazine'')
** On the other side of the spectrum, Toho first said "a monster similar to Godzilla ravaged New York at the end of the last century" in ''[[Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All Out Attack|GMK]]'', and then put Zilla in ''Final Wars'', where he went down to the Big G himself in ''ten seconds''. Toho did ''not'' like what happened with Godzilla in America. Hence the Toho official nickname "Zilla": Toho didn't believe the American Godzilla had any right to have "God" in its name.
* [[Truly Single Parent]]: In this movie, Godzilla (like a [[Star Trek: The Original Series|Tribble]]) is born pregnant.
* [[Voodoo Shark]]: The reason behind the horizontal, raptor-like design for the monster was in order to make it more "realistic." (We'll ignore the improbability of such a lanky, precarious and front-heavy design being better suited for giant size than the heavy, pillar-legged, mountain-shaped original.) They decided to continue making it more realistic by making it a mutated iguana instead of a dinosaur, thereby completely negating the entire point behind the raptor-shape in the first place.
** Of course, the [[Square-Cube Law]] is being completely ignored either way...
* [[The Worm Guy]]: The [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Worm Sign]]: When Godzilla arrives from the ocean, the pier splits most satisfyingly.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Horror Films]]
[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Godzilla]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Foreign Remake]]
[[Category:Godzilla (1998 film)]]