Godzilla

1999. A disaster wrecks the Janjira nuclear plant in Japan and kills engineer Joe Brody's wife. Fifteen years later, Joe sneaks into the quarantine zone and finds Monarch hiding a giant cocoon there. A MUTO, a creature that feeds on radiation, breaks out. Joe dies in the attack. His son Ford, a Navy officer, joins the military response. Dr. Serizawa explains that Godzilla, an ancient apex predator, is hunting the MUTOs to restore balance. A female emerges in Nevada, and the pair meet in San Francisco to breed. Godzilla arrives to fight. Ford destroys the eggs, the nuke is carried away from the city, and Godzilla kills both MUTOs. He collapses, wakes up and returns to the sea.

1. ReferenceThe 1954 tests

   In the movie, the 1954 nuclear tests in the Pacific weren't tests at all. They were attempts to kill Godzilla. 1954 is also the year of Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla.

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2. ReferenceA name with two tributes

   Ken Watanabe's Dr. Ishiro Serizawa combines director Ishirō Honda's first name with the surname of Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, the scientist in the 1954 film.

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3. Behind the scenesFrom micro-budget to giant

   Gareth Edwards landed the job after Monsters (2010), a sci-fi film made on a tiny budget with effects he built himself on his own computer.

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