Top Ten Best Godzilla
Movies
With the worst now
out of the way, it’s time to focus in on the best films the Godzilla series has to offer. He’s been
assaulted by the military, rival giant monsters, and natural phenomenon
countless times, but these ten in particular proved to be the most memorable
and entertaining.
If you like what you
see on this list, check out my Brief History of Cinema piece on the entire Godzilla series, which goes into more
detail about every film!
Honourable Mention:
Destroy
all Monsters (1968). It’s a fan favourite, and definitely a good monster movie, but it’s
just not in my own top ten. Even though it packs in a mind
boggling number of kaiju and ends with a triumphant beat down on King Ghidorah,
Destroy All Monsters isn’t
entertaining enough throughout to make it into the top ten.
At number ten is this kaiju sci-fi/fantasy mash up, which
retools the origins of three enemies into guardian monsters, and serves as a reintroduction for
Godzilla as the villain we originally knew him as. Godzilla is reincarnated by the souls of the soldiers who died in the Pacific War. In the past, he's been a protector of Japan or a force of
nature, but this time around he’s brought back as a pure bad guy. And is he
ever bad. Big G causes more direct deaths in this film alone than all the other
films in the Millennium era combined. He stomps, smashes, and blows up
everything in sight. As
the title indicates, Mothra and King Ghidorah show up, but they are now earth defenders, destined to protect earth from Godzilla’s wrathful return. A
third earth protector who didn’t make it into the title, Baragon, is the first
to take on Godzilla. This battle sequence is enough to sustain the
wait for Mothra and Ghidorah to show up. The action is terrific, and the
special effects are yet another step up from earlier efforts. Godzilla looks
bigger and bulkier than in previous Millennium era films, and he has blank
white eyes, like he’s possessed. All the
other monsters look great—even the ridiculous looking Baragon is improved. For
a casual viewer, this monster mash is probably a little out there, but for any
Godzilla fan, it’s a breath of fresh air, and a satisfying reboot, even if it's slow to start.
9. Invasion of Astro Monster (1965) A.K.A. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
Here’s yet another one to feature King Ghidorah. What can I
say? The monster makes for one hell of a villain. Here, we have aliens, a
battle on another planet, brainwashed monsters, and lots of cheesy action. Aliens take control of Rodan and Godzilla and turn them against
earth, making both monsters pure villains once again. It's fun to see them destroy the cityscape and pose
as a threat, especially when they had just decided to team up and defend Japan
in the previous movie, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster. The aliens look silly, and some of the special effects
are subpar compared to later films, but for the time, this early Showa era
Godzilla adventure was fun and different from what had come before. It was also the
first to introduce aliens as the main antagonists, a concept that would be
reused many times in future films.
By the sixties, Godzilla had already been established as a
major movie monster, and Toho was well into expanding their horizons with other
kaiju films. Mothra, who starred in
her own film in 1961, was first pitted against Big G for this versus film, and
she has since gone on to be one of Godzilla’s most famous enemies, as well as a popular
giant monster outside of the Godzilla films. With Mothra vs. Godzilla being only the fourth Godzilla movie, the vast potential of the series was still in its infancy, but it's still seen as one of the greatest Godzilla movies ever, thanks to the unique match-up of the giant
dinosaur and the giant moth. It offers a battle with different dynamics, and makes for an
unpredictable brawl, but beyond the fight scenes, there is still satisfying Godzilla destruction. With numerous memorable moments, it’s a great monster
rumble, and set the standard yet again for how to make a good Godzilla movie.
7. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974),
A.K.A. Godzilla vs. The Bionic Monster A.K.A. Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster
This is the first in a long line of Godzilla movies to do away with childish plot lines and stock
footage use, and is one of the best from the first era of films. Space men from
the third planet of the black hole, who look like they belong in Planet of the Apes, arrive on earth with
their cosmic Godzilla robot to wreak havoc and take on the real king of the monsters. After getting injured,
Godzilla gets struck by lightning a bunch of times, as if things aren’t bad
enough for him. Luckily, it gives him temporary magnetic powers that come in
handy later. Meanwhile, a prophecy is being fulfilled, which tells the human
heroes of the movie that it’s time to awaken the lion god King Caesar from
hibernation (done so by extensive singing, unfortunately). King Caesar isn’t that impressive
of a monster; he looks like a scruffy dog more than a lion, and his roars are
recycled from King Kong vs. Godzilla.
However, the final battle between Mechagodzilla and Godzilla/King Caesar is hilarious
and epic. The effects are cheesy, the monsters are over the top, and it’s awesome.
One of the most memorable monster movies ever, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah stands out as
a fan favourite, thanks to the successful reinvention of Godzilla’s arch
nemesis, and a new take on Godzilla’s origins. Big G is still born of nuclear
testing back in the forties, but something that hadn’t been shown until now was
the actual dinosaur (called Godzillasaurus) which eventually grew into the
towering radiated monster. Godzilla plays multiple roles throughout the movie.
In dinosaur form, he is both a villain and a hero back in WWII, attacking the
Americans but protecting the Japanese. Then, when he arrives in Japan in modern
times in his traditional form, he’s a hero, fighting and defeating King Ghidorah.
But after Ghidorah is defeated, he’s a villain, and attacks the city, so
Mecha-King Ghidorah is used to defeat him. It’s one of the best uses of Godzilla in relation to the plot that I can think of. Mecha-King
Ghidorah is only around for a short time, but he leaves quite the
impression nonetheless. It’s a fun time, with great effects, many funny moments, and solid monster battles.
It’s rare that two such iconic movie characters are brought
together in a “versus” movie that turns out to be satisfying. Some people don’t even realize the two
most famous kaiju in cinema history got together for a skirmish way back in the sixties. Godzilla thaws out from an ice
berg and attacks Japan—nothing different than normal. Kong, on the other hand,
gets a large scale makeover. Instead of being 25-60 feet tall like in the American original, now he’s tall
enough to look Godzilla right in the eye, thanks to eating a powerful type of
berry found on his island home that makes him grow huge. Kong also becomes
stronger from electricity; it’s never explained how, and doesn’t need to be.
The fights that take place in this movie are some of the best from the earlier Godzilla films, and set a new standard
for how giant monster films were done. Staples of a good Godzilla film are all present: the military attacking in futility,
Godzilla destroying buildings and blowing up tanks, and of course Godzilla
fighting his nemesis. Kong proves to be more than an infatuated chump, and is
actually made out to be pretty even against Big G in terms of strength. King Kong vs. Godzilla is a lot of fun,
and a classic kaiju brawl. It’s a shame Kong and Big G never got together again
for round two during the Showa era.
Perhaps the most emotional Godzilla film since the original, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is depressing in a different way from Gojira. While Gojira was somber because of Godzilla’s wrath and the devastation
he inflicted on poor unsuspecting Japan, Godzilla
vs. Destoroyah is sad because it features one of the only times Godzilla
ever died. Instead of a heroic death in battle, he not only gets
pummelled by the brutal monster Destoroyah, but his heart explodes. Before that happens, though, his
body is in meltdown mode, making Godzilla a walking, raging, fire-breathing atomic
bomb that could go off any time. He’s more unpredictable and ferocious than
ever. Destoroyah also keeps everyone guessing. With multiple forms that
culminate into a massive monster from hell, Godzilla barely manages to defeat
him, and only does so thanks to his son, Godzilla Junior, helping out.
Godzilla Jr. gets killed, and father Godzilla mourns his death before dying
himself. It’s not a totally depressing end though, because the nuclear energy
that Godzilla’s melting body gives off goes into his son’s dead body, and makes
him grow into a new full-grown Godzilla. Even though they didn’t really follow
up on this ending with a direct sequel, it was a nice way to let audiences know
Godzilla was gone for now, but he would be back with a vengeance one day.
3. Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
To cap off the third era of Godzilla films, Toho delivered the biggest kaiju adventure ever by
bringing back enemies who hadn’t been seen in decades, and pitting them all
against Big G in a global monster smack down. It’s like the game Godzilla: Unleashed made into a film. If
there’s anything negative that could be said about this movie, it would be that
Godzilla doesn’t actually get enough screen time, and there seems to be a
greater focus on all the villains over Godzilla himself. Having said that, the
filmmakers made the most of Big G when he was
on screen, and he kicks some serious ass; it’s like in Giant Monsters All-Out Attack where
nothing can stop him and he just doles out beatings and destruction scene after
scene, only double that. Some fans may dislike that there are also a lot of
human fight scenes throughout the movie, especially in the first half. At first
I found this to be a little surprising and almost disappointing, because when
you sit down to watch a Godzilla
movie, the number one thing you want to see is Godzilla fight another monster,
or at least see him destroy a city in spectacular fashion. Now, I’ve come to appreciate the human action scenes slotted in with the giant
monster action scenes. In the past, Godzilla movies had scenes of
destruction and kaiju fights, but then there were a lot of talking and
explanation scenes, which got boring after awhile. This is something
different, and it literally makes almost the whole movie one long string of
fight scenes. It may be too bat shit
crazy for some, but I like that it’s basically a feature length highlight reel
and tribute to Godzilla’s past.
Director Ishiro Honda introduced the world to this now
legendary monster, which came from dark, sinister origins. Acting as a metaphor
for nuclear destruction, Godzilla first takes out a ship and its crew in a scene
very reminiscent of a real-life event. The Lucky Dragon 5, an actual Japanese
fishing trawler, was hit by radiation when a nuclear test went awry, resulting
in radiation sickness for the entire crew. Godzilla’s full scale attack on
Tokyo was designed to resemble the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Godzilla’s wave of destruction is deliberate, thorough, and
unstoppable. Of all the Godzilla
films, this one features not only the most sombre tone, but some of the most memorable
characters, including Dr. Serizawa, Emiko, and Ogata. As the series progressed, Godzilla became more and
more unstoppable, and was only officially killed a couple of times. It’s easy
to forget the original Godzilla monster was killed in the original film by Serizawa. He develops the Oxygen Destroyer, one of the only
weapons that ever successfully killed the giant radioactive monster. So
tormented by the knowledge of this super-weapon, Serizawa ensures no one else
will ever learn how to make it, and pays the ultimate price. Even though it’s
not as fun as the Godzilla movies
that were to come, Gojira is the most
important film from the entire franchise, and is a must see giant monster
movie.
When I originally decided to rank my ten favourite Godzilla movies, I had the preconceived
idea that Gojira would be number one
without a doubt. Usually it gets
all the credit as the best Godzilla movie.
Does it deserve it? Of course it does, so why is it not my number one? As great as it is, Godzilla
2000 gets top honours on my list, because it has been my personal favourite Godzilla movie for the longest. A lot of Godzilla fans may sight any number of the films I have on this list
as their number one, and I think everyone has a personal connection to one of
the Godzilla films as their ultimate
favourite for various reasons. For me, Godzilla
2000 was the first Toho produced Godzilla
film I ever saw. It blew my mind as a kid, and even now I am thoroughly
entertained by it. Godzilla was redesigned for this reboot, and he looks
awesome. His dorsal spines, teeth, and atomic breath are all
enhanced, as are the miniature cities that take the brunt
of his wrath. The plot is not particularly original, but I actually like it for
that reason: it’s a classic Godzilla
story, but with enough new ideas that it isn’t a rehash. While the Godzilla
Prediction Network monitors Big G’s activity, scientists discover an ancient
meteor at the bottom of the ocean. It turns out to be an alien spacecraft
lodged in rock, with a hostile creature aboard which must first adapt to
earth’s atmosphere before trying to take over the planet. The alien ship is
powered by sunlight, so it flies into the city and lands on a building, where
it remains unmovable for a chunk of the movie. Not until the
final act does the ship extract some of Godzilla’s cells and take on a living
form. The monster is called Orga, and he’s one of the coolest villains ever to
take on Big G. They have an epic battle filled with punching, smashing, atomic
breath, and all the hallmarks of a great giant monster battle. Godzilla seems
to give up at the end by allowing Orga to open his jaws like a snake—wide
enough to fit over Godzilla—and try to eat him. Godzilla blows him to bits with
his atomic breath and lets out a drawn out, victorious roar. It has the usual cheesiness,
it's a bit tongue in cheek, having really only been made because of the atrocious 1998 American version, and it's over the top, but it’s also a harrowing adventure filled
with everything that makes Godzilla great.
No comments:
Post a Comment