The name "Godzilla" is a rough romanization of Gojira (ゴジラ?), a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ lit. "gorilla"?) and kujira (クジラ lit. "whale"?). At one planning stage, the concept of "Gojira" was described as "a cross between a gorilla and a whale," alluding to Godzilla's size, power and aquatic origin. A popular story is that "Gojira" was actually the nickname of a hulking stagehand at Toho Studio.[7] The story has not been verified, however, because in the more than 50 years since the film's original release, no one claiming to be the employee has ever stepped forward, and no photographs of him have ever surfaced.
Described as atransitional form between aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates by Doctor Yamane in the original film, Godzilla is able to survive in the ocean for extended periods of time and is adept a fighter underwater as he is on land.
THE MOVIE
Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatapolous (Matthew Broderick), an NRC scientist, who happened to be in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, is interrupted by the arrival of an agent of the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Panama, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing ship (which had three gigantic claw marks on one side) and a set of massive dinosaur-like footprints in the grassy soil. The Frenchman is also there, observing the scene and introduces himself as an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft, Tatapolous identifies skin samples he recovered as belonging to an animal "unknown to science".
Gojira then heads to New York City, dragging three trawlers under the sea on the way, then creating havoc in the Fulton Fish Market, before rampaging through the city. Manhattan is evacuated and the military attempt to kill the monster, first luring it out with a huge pile of fish. It takes the bait, but then shrugs off small arms fire, and evades and destroys three pursuing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. It escapes, but not before Nick realizes that the monster reproduces asexually, and is collecting food not only for itself, but also for its offspring. Nick is determined to find its nest.
However, a videotape from Panama is stolen by Nick's ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), a would-be TV journalist for news channel "WIDF." Audrey originally intended to broadcast the tape herself, but her boss broadcasted it instead and mispronounced "Gojira" as "Godzilla." The military is outraged by the broadcasting of the classified tape and Nick is thrown off the team. Nick is then kidnapped by the Frenchman who introduces himself as Philippe Roaché, an agent of the DGSE, the French Secret Service. He and his team have been keeping close watch on events, and are now ready to help clear up the mess they feel responsible for, but cannot acknowledge.
The military lures it out again, into the waters of the Hudson River with three U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. Godzilla is torpedoed and seems to be dead. Meanwhile Nick and a French team, led by Roaché, surreptitiously followed by Audrey and cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), track Godzilla through the subway tunnels(underground train station??-ogawa) to the Madison Square Garden, finding hundreds of eggs. They start to lay explosives, but the eggs start to hatch. The Baby Godzillas begin to look for food, and since the team smell like fish, they become inevitable targets. After failing to contain the infants and losing several members of the team, the remaining four of them take refuge in a TV broadcast booth. Knowing that the Baby Godzillas will eventually force humanity into extinction if they escape, Nick, Audrey, and Animal alert the authorities, who order an immediate strike by a trio of F/A-18 Hornets. The four escape just before the building is destroyed, only for an extremely enraged Godzilla (who managed to survive the assault in the river) to emerge from the wreckage. The four make a getaway in a taxicab, and lure it to the Brooklyn Bridge where it becomes entangled in the steel suspension cables, and is an easy target for the fighters. After it is hit by several missiles, it screams in pain and falls to the ground, its heart beating slowly until it breathes its last breath.
As Nick, Audrey and Animal reconcile, Roaché quietly walks off with the videotape and calls Nick to tell him he will return it after "certain information" has been removed, and disappears into the night.
All seems well until we see in the smoking ruins of the Garden, a single egg has survived and hatches...
Ogawa WINS.... heh