1 Gojira / Godziilla: King of the Monsters – Godzilla Returns / Godzilla 1985
I simply can’t choose between these two movies, I like the both above all for pretty similar reasons. While I grew up watching the Godzilla vs. films of the 60s and 70s, in the end, I truly enjoy Godzilla movies where it’s just him rampaging and causing terror and destruction, and these are the only films in the entire Toho body of films that do this. I also consider the ’54 and ’84 suits to be the best Godzilla looks ever.
I don’t separate the Japanese and American versions as far as rankings because to me, it’s still the same movie, just like a theatrical and director’s cut, the core film is still the same. I do favor the Japanese cuts, particularly of the ’84 film, largely because there was actual Godzilla footage cut out for the American. One thing I do like about the American cuts and wish somehow could be added with the Japanese cut to have an Ultimate version of each is Raymond Burr. Growing up with the American versions, I came to associate Burr with these solo, more serious Godzilla stories, and I think between his voice and personality, it makes for a good narrative. Another thing I like about the American version of the ’84 film is the painful roar that was added as Godzilla falls into the volcano, in the Japanese cut, it’s a 60s style roar and there’s no pain to it, but in the American cut, there’s this terrible crying quality enhanced by an echo effect and it just makes you feel bad for him.
As far as highlights from each film for me, for Gojira, it’s Akira I___ube’s score, he defined all the classic Godzilla themes right from the start, while there were some other nice additions in later films, I consider this score the best overall collection of I___ube music, I don’t think another Godzilla movie has as nice a score from start to finish. From Godzilla Returns, my favorite aspect would be the roar, my favorite of all Godzilla roars, and the cinematography, it really features some great camera angles and visuals.
It’s not all good stuff, I do have a negative thought on these two and it’s pretty much the same comment for both, and it’s a dislike for the use of puppets and robots. In both films, the puppet/robot differs greatly from the suit look, I can understand this with the ’54, but I would think by ’84, they would be better able to match them, especially with the robot being 20 feet tall. In both films, the puppet/robot looks subpar to the suit design, especially in ’84. I’d much prefer if they just used the suits only.
2 Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster
Ghidorah is my all-time favorite Godzilla villain, he looks cool, he’s always a challenge for Godzilla, I enjoy that movies featuring him usually depict Godzilla struggling and having to rise up and get help to beat him. I really enjoy the storyline of this film, the score is great, the Ghidorah theme is one of my most favorite pieces of Godzilla music outside of the themes established in Gojira. I also really like the suit design from this movie for Godzilla a lot.
3 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Much like Ghidorah, I enjoy the 70s Mechagodzilla as he was a powerful, challenging foe for Godzilla. While the music wasn’t as strong in this film, no I___ube, the story was enjoyable, has a nice, dark quality to it. I love that this movie “kills” Godzilla, and the whole scene of him being revived is really cool, and I really enjoy the final battle.
4 Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964)
One of my most favorite things about this film is the score; I___ube did a great job with this film. One thing I like a lot about the score is the same for Godzilla himself, which is the dark tone. For the first time since Gojira, Godzilla was a dark force again. in 1955 and 1962, Godzilla was a bit campy and lacked what I really like about the creature, but the 1964 suit, while more simplistic like all the 60s and 70s suits, looked dark overall. I attribute some of this to his eyes, which, like the ’74 and ’84 suits, were more up into his eyelids, I think this adds a look of menace to his face. Even though it’s a vs. movie, most of Godzilla’s screen time is just him destroying Japan and the army trying to fight him off, and they’re some really cool scenes with some great music to highlight them. It’s a great Godzilla movie that never gets old for me.
5 Invasion of the Astro Monster (Godzilla vs. Monster Zero)
My favorite villain is back, but, the overall film isn’t as enjoyable to me as Ghidorah and the other 2 films ranked above this, but it’s still a top film. Highlighted by a reuse of the same themes found in Ghidorah plus the addition of the Japanese Army March from Gojira and this film features some of the best monster scenes in the series. Other highlights for me include the retrieval of Rodan and Godzilla, getting a glimpse at how and where they are when they aren’t destroying everything. While silly, the kid in me also enjoys the Godzilla victory dance on Planet X.
6 Godzilla vs. Biollante
While I consider Biollante one of the lamer Godzilla foe designs, this film does pack some things I really like that set it above others. One thing I really like is that it continued to deliver a more realistic look to Godzilla and his environments like Godzilla Returns did. While I’m smart enough to know Godzilla’s just a guy in a suit running around a soundstage, the ’54, ’84 and ’89 films do a good job of making him seem like a real, giant monster stomping through a real city. A real highlight in this movie for me is the resurfacing of Godzilla, the mix of I___ube’s classic music with the visual of Godzilla rising out of a volcano is just fantastic, and the camera angles and lighting all just looks great, one of my most favorite scenes in all of Godzilla. Overall, I consider this one of the weakest scores in all the Godzilla films, most of it sounds unappealing to me, especially the stuff that incorporates guitar, but, the choices of I___ube music used and the way they’re performed really work for me, they sound great and make for some great scenes. The use of music from the ’65 Godzilla vs. Mothra to score Godzilla’s initial destruction of the city at night is just great. I also love the variation of the ’84 roar in this movie, the added echo effect at the end really adds power to the sound.
7 Godzilla vs. Destroyah
I’m not really into this film as a whole, but, there are aspects I just enjoy so much that I still favor it more than other Godzilla movies. For one thing, one of the most unique Godzilla suits in the whole series with the meltdown effect, which I really like because of the colors, I also like how massive and powerful Godzilla looks in this film, it’s like the ‘89/’91 suit took steroids. I enjoy one of the earlier scenes with the many Destroyah’s running around the warehouse as the scene really feels influence by James Cameron’s Aliens. I really like the fight scenes as Destroyah is a bit of a formidable foe for Godzilla. Another highlight is I___ube’s music, he really put together a great finale to the Godzilla series, at least it was made to be a finale. Speaking of that, this film features yet another great death scene and closing scene in Godzilla films, the meltdown music and special FX are awesome, and the final shot of Godzilla Junior mutated into a full adult lit from behind through the smoke is just an awesome visual to close on. While I don’t own the Japanese version, I have seen the credits and the highlight real of the Godzilla timeline that runs ’54 to ’84 through ’95 and it’s a really cool look back on the series.
8 Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
While this movie suffers the woman power issue I take with this period of Godzilla films, it does deliver a Mechagodzilla that looks ferocious, even if it is a tool of the heroes. It’s really cool to see the look at the ’54 Godzilla’s skeleton. Godzilla’s design in this movie is really cool, I’m not totally against the crystal-like spikes that were used starting in 2002, but, I am a bit against the purple color they had in 2000 so this is a nice return to the old style spike colors with a new style design. The overall look is more classic Godzilla, his face looks less turtle-like to me than the 2000 suit, more fierce, and his body is more like the ’84 in proportions. I also like the more classic fire breath effect used here. This film also features another of my favorite shots in the opening with Godzilla set against a sky filled with lightning while letting out a huge roar, just really cool. Still, I much prefer Mechagodzilla as a villain and the overall film’s a bit weak to me so this still ranks lower for me.
9 Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster
While this certainly isn’t the greatest Godzilla ever, and probably not even well made enough to rank so high, for me it’s one of the most fun Godzilla movies to watch, cool fight scenes with an interesting villain, some cool scenes with interaction between Godzilla and the human characters, I really like the awakening scene. It also features the ’65 suit, which is one of my more favorite Godzilla suits so that’s a plus. The human story’s a bit weak though, and there’s no standout music to it.
10 Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
This film features quite a few things I really liked. For one, Ghidorah was back, and I___ube did the score so the classic Ghidorah theme was in use and I always enjoy that. The Godzilla suit was the ’89 style with the ’84 style roar still in use. The origin of Godzilla stuff was pretty cool, seeing a design for the dinosaur from which he was spawned. Mecha King Ghidorah was also a really cool villain design. That said, this film doesn’t rank higher because the villains sucked, they were totally bogus to me, the M11 character being the Godzilla equivalent of a Terminator with REALLY cheesy effects for his abilities hurt it, and in general, the time travel, alternate future storyline just doesn’t work much for me. Also, Ghidorah’s design, while 2nd best, doesn’t hold up to the 60s Ghidorah.
11 Godzilla 2000
I’m sure the ranking of this film may seem surprising, but for the most part, I enjoy this one. Godzilla’s a pretty cool design, though as I’ve said, I don’t agree with his spikes being purple. There’s some pretty good cinematography in this film, especially the opening attack scene with Godzilla, there are some shots in there I really like. I enjoy the storyline of the group following and studying Godzilla and their encounters with him. Most of the Godzilla scenes are really cool. What brings this film down for me is the spaceship and Orga villain, it just doesn’t do it for me and most of the scenes around the ship are just too cheesy for me. Another thing I don’t like, and I don’t know if it’s the actual dialogue or creative license by the dubbers, but the overuse of swearing in the dialogue comes off to me like a poor attempt at reaching a bigger audience and just strikes me as lame, and hurts much of the human interaction scenes.
12 Destroy All Monsters
For me, this movie isn’t anything too great overall, but, it is an excellent execution of a Godzilla’s greatest hits film, this is how you integrate many monsters from Godzilla’s past into a film that works and is enjoyable. If only Final Wars had built from this formula, we might have gotten something really special to end the Toho series on. A highlight in this film would be the score, some great, classic I___ube music in this movie.
13 Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
This is another film that really doesn’t stand out too much for me from the ones below it, but, whatever it lacks in positives to rank it higher, it makes up for in lack of negatives that I find with the ones below it, it’s pretty much a middle ground, not much I love, not much I dislike. Some cool fight scenes, some interesting visuals and FX not seen in other Godzilla movies, the introduction of a new Godzilla theme that I really like which would be reused in future films, but other than that, not much to really say about it.
14 Godzilla vs. Mothra / Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II / Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla
There’s really no standout amongst these 3 to rank them separately, but enough to say they rank lower than everything above them. I didn’t care much for the designs, Rodan looks crappy compared to the 60s Rodan, Mechagodzilla is way too soft looking for me, and even Godzilla’s suit design isn’t that great looking to me, particularly his spikes. There were some really cool scenes in these movies, like the volcano shots in Mothra, the beach scene in Spacegodzilla, but not enough good overall for me to rank these higher than I do.
15King Kong vs. Godzilla
First, number one reason to dislike this movie for me, Godzilla losing out to King Kong. Second, for me, this was THE WORST suit ever in any Godzilla movie, the head, the body shape, it’s all weak in my book. Now, that opening would probably suggest this should fall lower in my rankings, but it doesn’t because there are some things I like about it. For one, I grew up on Godzilla movies and the 1976 King Kong, so the concept of both creatures, albeit ugly incarnations of both, being in one film together is really cool. If could, I’d pit the ’54 or ’84 Godzilla against the ’76 King Kong and then my favorite looks of both would be together and I’d enjoy them fighting that much more. The story still holds onto Godzilla being a frightening creature and the fight scenes are enjoyable. I can look past the negatives I find with this film enough to enjoy the overall more than the films that rank below it.
16 Terror of Mechagodzilla
I thoroughly enjoy the scenes of Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus wreaking havoc and the fight scenes, and I___ube’s music was spectacular at times, but the story of Dr. Mafune and the aliens just feels weak to me, and the heroes weren’t really interesting at all. I watch this movie and can’t get to the Godzilla parts fast enough. For the most part, I rarely get into the human parts of Godzilla movies like I do Godzilla’s parts, but I enjoy a lot of them, this isn’t one.
17 Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
I really like the Godzilla suit used in this and the Mechagodzilla film, probably my most favorite of the 2000 era, but this film features a mix of all the things I didn’t like in this era. There’s too much of the fem power plotline for me, and too much mythology with the Mothra aspect of the story, and really didn’t care much for the whole boo hoo, Mechagodzilla’s a living creature plot. There’s some really cool stuff in this movie, enough to rank it higher amongst the lower films, but not enough to favor it with me into the higher rankings.
18 Godzilla vs. Gigan
While I consider Gigan one of the cooler Godzilla foes ever created, the overall story of this film just feels weak to me. I enjoy a good use of aliens in Godzilla (Monster Zero, Mechagodzilla), but I didn’t like the use of that in this film, especially with the childish qualities of the leader, it just feels very cheesy to me.
19 Godzilla Raids Again
I enjoy that this is black and white like the original, the suit has many similarities to the original, but, for me, this is the slowest moving Godzilla film ever. It’s like an hour and a half and I feel like you could reduce it to 45 minutes if you sped it up. The fight scenes in Japan feel dragged out, the handling of Godzilla at the end of the film feels really dragged out, the music was lackluster and the human story was pretty so so. I’m sure some of the slowness was because of it being the first time they’d done Godzilla fighting another monster and were learning things as they went on, but doesn’t change that the film is that way and it hurts the experience.
20 Godzilla vs. Megalon
As a kid, I really liked this one much the same as I did Son of and for similar reasons. Part of it was the fact that this local TV show often ran this particular one so I saw it a lot, but the other reason I really liked it was that the main characters and Godzilla sort of interact, like he’s a buddy of theirs. As an adult, that aspect and the whole Jet Jaguar character make it feel like the filmmakers stopped taking Godzilla seriously. While the films of the 60s and 70s are quite campy overall, Son and Megalon really seemed to push that.
21 Son of Godzilla
I loved this movie as a kid because I could related to the baby and as a Godzilla fan it was fun to see a movie that was like, what if your dad was Godzilla, but as an adult, it loses that and what’s left is an ok movie. I would say, the suit for this movie is probably the second worst of all Godzilla suits to me, the only good looking part of it were his spikes having a bit of ‘54/’55 style to them, which I like. The music wasn’t anything spectacular and there were no standout fights/villains in it.
22 Godzilla vs. Hedorah
This film isn’t ALL bad, I enjoy some of the fighting, but, there’s a lot I don’t care for. The whole anti-pollution storyline has merit, but for me, the execution is like some sort of 60s acid trip or something. Another thing I didn’t care for was the overall fight scenes just felt really dragged on and slow and without any real tension, and where Hedorah not dying could have been very dramatic, I watch it thinking, just get it over with. Also, the Godzilla tail slide move is just a huge WTF moment in the history of Godzilla films.
23 Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah, Giant Monsters All Out Attack
As I mentioned a bit regarding the era this falls in, the guardian monsters story line just doesn’t work for me, it’s too much, and the Ghidorah design looks cheesy and bogus to me. The only thing I really like in this movie is the Godzilla suit, it’s a unique design, especially the pupil-less eyes, but sadly, it’s only use was in a bad film.
24 All Monsters Attack (Godzilla’s Revenge)
I dislike this movie simply because it’s like when a TV show can’t make a real new episode so they slap together a highlight reel of previous entries into something new, I don’t care for it much with TV shows and I don’t care for it with Godzilla. I don’t really consider this to be a unique film at all, they may as well have not made it.
25 Godzilla Final Wars
For one reason in particular, I really dislike this movie, and that is the film’s intended purpose and it’s failure to carry that out. The film was meant to be like a series finale to a TV series, a final big bang for the Big G, and it was a horrible way to end things, I dare say, it may have been an even worse overall film than the American Godzilla.
Aside from it’s failure as a closure to the series, I also dislike the X-Men meets Matrix storyline. Not sure what the filmmakers were thinking, but it was just over the top to me, and the fact that the main character even looks like Keanu Reeves just really kills it for me
My other major reason for disliking this movie is the Godzilla screen time. He’s barely in it, and when he finally is, the scenes are so rushed, and I know it sounds silly to say when talking about Godzilla, but it all just seemed so far fetched. He goes around the whole world in what seems like a very short time span and with little effort kicks the ass of his greatest hits foes.
Last thing I dislike, with all the effort to be faithful to original designs with his foes, the new Ghidorah creature looks terrible and is a seriously missed opportunity.
Someone might wonder why, even though it woudl surely rank dead last, I did not add the American Godzilla movie in this list, and that is because, other than the title of Godzilla, I do not consider it a Godzilla film, as much as some of the Godzilla movies suck to me, they are still Godzilla films. The Tristar effort just turned it's back on what Godzilla is, so I see it as just another American monster movie, and not judging it as a Godzilla movie, i can actually enjoy a lot of it, if I start to judge it as a Godzilla movie or what could have been, then I start to dislike it.
