It's a good thing that this 'Zilla is a lady, or else that tower would've needed protection.
Godzilla is a 1998 American film remake of the Japanese film of the same name. It was co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich, director of Independence Day and 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 TriStar Pictures.The film follows the attacks of the titular creature on Manhattan, following his apparent creation via 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.
Tropes associated with this work:
Acrophobic Bird: The helicopter pilots seem to always stay at mouth-level of the monster they're attacking.
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. invoked
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.
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.
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, Critics!: In retaliation for giving 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 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.
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...
What Could Have Been: The original script for the movie had Godzilla being far more like his Japanese self and he was supposed to fight a shape-shifting monster called the Gryphon. Due to the financial success of Independence Day, however, TriStar decided that they wanted their own disaster movie to compete, and so hired Roland Emmerich to direct.
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