Godzilla (1998)

Following a nuclear test in French Polynesia, a marine iguana nest is exposed to the fallout of radiation.

Thirty years later, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by an enormous sea creature in the South Pacific ocean, with only one seaman surviving. Traumatized, he is questioned by a mysterious Frenchman in a hospital regarding what he saw, to which he only replies "Gojira."

Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but he is interrupted by the arrival of an official from the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Panama and Jamaica, escorted by the military, to observe a trail of wreckage across land leading to the recovered Japanese fishing ship with massive claw marks on it. In Jamaica, the Frenchman is also present, observing the scene, and introduces himself as Philippe Roaché, a so-called "insurance agent."

Aboard a military aircraft, Dr. Tatopoulos identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military's theory that the creature is a living dinosaur, instead deducing that he is a mutant created by nuclear testing.

The large reptilian creature travels to New York City leaving a path of destruction wherever it goes. The monster is lured to Flatiron Square with 20,000 pounds of fish, when the military begins attacking it. The city is evacuated as the military attempts to kill the monster, but fails in an initial attempt. Tatopoulos later collects a blood sample and learns that the creature is pregnant; it reproduces asexually and is collecting food not just for itself, but also for its offspring.

Eventually, Dr. Tatopoulos meets up with his ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds, a young news reporter who wants to find a story. While she visits him, she uncovers a classified tape in his provisional military tent which concerns the origins of the monster, and turns it over to the media. She hopes to have her report put on TV in hopes to become famous, but her superior and boss, Charles Caiman, declares the tape as his own discovery. The tape is broadcast on television by the media, who dubs the creature "Godzilla." Dr. Tatopoulos is thrown off the team for his inadvertent carelessness and says goodbye to Audrey. Tatopoulos is then kidnapped by Philippe Roaché, who reveals himself to be an agent of the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence agency. He and his colleagues have been keeping close watch on the events and are planning to cover up their country's role in the creation of Godzilla. Suspecting a nest somewhere in the city, they cooperate with Dr. Tatopoulos to trace and destroy him.

Following an encounter with the military near Central Park, Godzilla dives into the Hudson River to evade the military, where he is attacked by two Ohio Class Nuclear-Powered Subs and a Los Angeles-Class Nuclear Attack Submarine. After colliding with torpedoes, the subs fired at him, Godzilla sinks. Believing he is finally dead, the authorities celebrate.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tatopoulos and Roaché's team, covertly followed by Timmonds and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, make their way through underground subway tunnels to Madison Square Garden. There, they find over a hundred eggs. As they attempt to destroy them, the eggs suddenly hatch. Perceiving the human intruders as food due to the fact that they smell like fish, the hatchlings begin attacking. Dr. Tatopoulos, Palotti, Timmonds and Roaché take refuge in the stadium's broadcast booth and send a live news report to alert the military. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before the arena is bombed.

The adult Godzilla, however, is revealed to have survived the torpedo attack earlier underwater (it is implied that he merely faked his death), and emerges from the Garden's ruins. Discovering all of his young dead, he chases the group through the streets of Manhattan angrily. In pursuit, Godzilla eventually makes his way to the Brooklyn Bridge. Godzilla becomes trapped in the steel suspension cables, making him an easy target. After being directly hit by missiles from three F-18 Hornets, Godzilla falls to the ground and slowly dies. Roaché and the rest of the team part ways, and the people of New York celebrate.

Meanwhile, back in the smoking ruins of the Garden, a lone egg hatches