C.C.C. Issue #22: Top Ten Giant Monster Movies

With Godzilla returning to theaters this May and (hopefully) contributing to the resurgence of giant monster popularity, I’m counting down the best super sized sci-fi and action epics to feature the largest monsters in all of cinema—I’m talking killer kaiju (that’s the Japanese name for giant monsters) and the top ten giant monster movies of all time.

Criteria: to narrow the number of contenders, I’m only counting movies with creatures that exceed standard sizes, so for example, the T-Rex in Jurassic Park is large, yes, but kept to real-life proportions, so technically it’s not a giant monster. This rule will exclude other films with large but not giant monsters, such as Jaws, Tremors, and Anaconda. The monsters must be at the center of the movie or at least featured prominently for it to count as a giant monster movie.

Honourable Mention: Monsters (2010). This low budget, unconventional creature feature was written and directed by Gareth Edwards, director of this year’s Godzilla. Though it explored interesting political themes through a giant monster invasion story, this film is, at its core, more about the main characters and less about the giant monsters. For a film called Monsters, it actually fails to deliver in these regards. The giant aliens make few appearances and aren’t particularly foreboding—they are generic giant squids very similar to the creature in Space Amoeba (a Toho Kaiju film from the seventies). Though not a bad film, especially considering its low budget and improv film style, it’s not among the greatest giant monster movies as some critics have indicated.

10. The Giant Claw (1957)

First up is this ridiculous schlock fest that made an appearance on my top ten best worst movies list (for more details about this movie, check out C.C.C. Issue #12). As I said on that list, it’s the funniest giant monster movie ever made and you need to see it to believe it. A giant prehistoric bird attacks not just one city in particular, but all of North America. It terrorizes the skies, snatching planes and paratroopers out of the air, smashes buildings, and causes hurricane force winds with its great wings. The monster effects are probably the worst ever—maybe not as absolutely horrendous as the creature suit used in Zaat (again, refer to the best worst movies list for more on that one)—but The Giant Claw is a showcase for some crazy sci-fi twists, a preposterous looking beast, and a lot of fun.

9. Pacific Rim (2013)

The most recent giant monster movie on this list, Pacific Rim delivered an action spectacle and paid tribute to all the greatest giant monster movies that came before it. Some people thought it was too much like what we’ve seen in the past—a sort of Transformers meets Godzilla—but I thought it put enough of a new twist on the genre to make it worthy of inclusion on this list. The plot in short is a portal opens at the bottom of the ocean and unleashes legions of giant monsters (called Kaiju), so the world comes together to build giant robots (called Jaegers) to beat the crap out of them and save the planet from total destruction. It gets pretty ridiculous, but thanks to director Guillermo del Toro’s eye for visuals and his balance of action with light humour, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and has fun with the creatures and characters. My favourite scene of all is the second battle that takes place half way through the movie. We see the Kaiju use electrical attacks, spew acid, and grow wings, while the Jaegers throw punches, use a ship as a baseball bat, and unleash some fearsome artillery. Pacific Rim is big, its kickass, and it’s perfect for any giant monster fan. 

8. Clash of the Titans (1981)

Before the crap remake that came out in 2010, there was the larger than life stop motion masterpiece Clash of the Titans, which features a host of strange and fascinating creatures, including Medusa and the Pegasus. Ray Harryhausen created some of the best stop motion effects ever in movies, and he did a ton of work on this film, which ended up being the last feature he worked on before retiring. Somehow he continued to outdo himself with each subsequent creature brought to life, and the film ends in a climactic scene featuring one of the best giant monsters of all: the enormous Kraken. Unlike the giant octopus of traditional legend, this Kraken is sort of reptilian, with an upright posture and four long arms. He doesn’t get to do a whole lot before being turned to stone by Perseus holding up Medusa’s head, but just the Kraken’s presence is intimidating. No amount of cgi could trump the stop motion marvel that is this monster.

7. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

Before Clash of the Titans, Ray Harryhausen worked on this other fantasy adventure film, which also featured an array of monsters, both large and small. Though it’s best known for an epic battle with an army of undead skeletons all fluently animated with stop motion, the parts that stick out to me are the scenes with monsters that tower over Jason and his comrades. One of the first baddies is the bronze statue Talos, which comes to life when a giant brooch pin is stolen from the treasure room that Talos is guarding. He’s huge and has a hefty sword, which makes him pretty intimidating, but even this giant pales in comparison to the Hydra. Jason takes on this serpentine creature, which sports many heads and tails and is like a great big mutant snake. Even though it’s not as big as Talos, the Hydra is swifter and the model of the creature has a greater level of detail. Although the effects for Jason and the Argonauts may seem to pale in comparison to the computer effects for modern films, you have to appreciate the time and skill required to bring those creatures to life using hand crafted detail and a series of tiny movements. 

6. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

One of the films most notable for inspiring Godzilla, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms features a similar concept, but is executed in a different manner. It’s somewhat less dark, but still has just as much monster action. A prehistoric dino—the fictional Rhedosaurus—is re-awakened by nuclear testing and attacks New York City. The Beast snatches people off roads and eats them, stomps on cars, and gets shot at by police and military forces: all the hallmarks of a great super sized sci-fi flick. Even though this film has animation from Ray Harryhausen, just like Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts both do, but the animation for those films is considered more impressive than his work on this film, I’m placing Beast one number higher simply for having a greater focus on a giant monster. While Argonauts had incredible effects, the truly best scenes weren’t of the giant monsters, but rather of the smaller creatures. Though no less impressive in terms of visual effects, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is slightly better than the two previous films in giant monster movie terms.

5. Them! (1954)

In the fifties, loads of sci-fi/horror villains were radioactive because of the cold war scare going on at the time. What was scarier than something big and nuclear? As it turns out, giant radioactive ants are among the scariest of all. Coming out in the U.S. the same year Godzilla was released in Japan, Them! features a colony of giant radioactive ants which aren’t even seen until very late in the movie. Unlike Godzilla, which actually shows the monster quite frequently, Them! keeps its giant ants alluded to rather than front and center most of the time. This makes their eventual reveal more shocking, and builds some great suspense. One particularly chilling scene reveals one of the ants with human bones at its feet. One of the first ‘nuclear monster’ films, as well as one of the earliest to feature giant insects attacking, the inspiration for many modern giant monster productions including Eight Legged Freaks and Tremors can be traced back to this seminal creature feature.

4. The Lost World (1925/1960)

This silent black and white classic showed up on my best dinosaur movies list, so you may be wondering why it’s on a list about giant monster movies, especially when I’m omitting Jurassic Park. In two of the versions that I’ve seen of The Lost World (that’s not counting the Jurassic Park sequel), the dinosaurs are not portrayed like real dinosaurs. They’re recognizable as dinosaurs, yes, but their proportions, features, and behaviour are all altered and turn them into, to quote Dr. Grant from Jurassic Park III, “...theme park monsters, nothing more, and nothing less.” The Brontosaurus in The Lost World behaved unlike any Brontosaurus ever would have, and speaking of the name Brontosaurus, that’s no longer a valid name for the creature anyway (it’s been corrected to Apatosaurus). So as far as I’m concerned, this version (as well as 1960 version) is a giant monster movie, and a damn good one at that. It may be black and white, silent, and shorter than your typical Hollywood blockbuster, but it delivers some great giant monster action. With dinosaurs attacking people, dinosaurs attacking other dinosaurs, and dinosaurs running rampant through London (which inspired subsequent giant monster flicks) it all makes for a surprisingly fast paced monster romp that, despite being obviously outdated, is still fun and worth checking out.

3. Gamera (A.K.A. Gammera: The Invincible and Gamera: The Giant Monster) (1965)

Though the giant atomic mutant turtle Gamera is often overshadowed by Godzilla’s presence both in America and their native Japan, Gamera is just as awesome of a giant movie monster, and his first film, Gamera: The Invincible is a classic of the genre. The film wastes no time in awakening Gamera from his eternity-long nap with the spectacularly cheesy crash landing of a nuclear jet in the remote arctic tundra. Though the character is clearly inspired by Godzilla’s reptilian appearance, Gamera is different and unique enough that he doesn’t feel like a rip off. With an indestructible shell, jet propulsion, severe under bite, big tusks, and fire breathing/fire eating capabilities, Gamera showcases his many abilities in this first film, as well as his appetite for destruction. Something that’s hinted at but not fully explored until later sequels is Gamera’s affection for children. Though he’s clearly out to destroy humanity, he saves a young boy from a collapsing light house at one point in the film. The ending is one of the best solutions to a problem in a movie ever. Scientists create a trap which lures Gamera to a launch pad, where they capture him in a space shuttle and send him to Mars. No joke. It’s over the top, it’s ridiculous, and it’s a blast. If you like giant movie monsters, you can’t go wrong with Gamera.

2. Godzilla (A.K.A. Gojira) (1954)

Coming in at a close second is the first film to feature Japan’s most famous kaiju, who has stomped Tokyo and fought other giants more times than James Bond has drank martinis in all of the 007 movies. With an extensive library of films that span six decades, I could have easily just picked ten of the greatest Godzilla flicks as the top ten giant monster movies (but I’m saving that for another list). Godzilla was the first in a long line of sci-fi/action/horror kaiju films that reinforced the character’s popularity, but the original cautionary tale that introduced the world to this titanic tyrannosaur is the one that stands out as the greatest of all. Essentially a symbol for nuclear destruction, Godzilla is a straight forward monster romp, but there are numerous elements that set it apart as the most important monster film from the fifties—a time when radiated creatures and aliens and global disasters were staples of science fiction. The dark, gritty atmosphere created by director Ishiro Honda’s deft direction supports the illusion that Godzilla really is destroying Tokyo, and is only made more somber by the black and white photography. Godzilla’s slow rampage is reminiscent of the way a nuclear bomb slowly and thoroughly decimates a city. His presence reminds Japan about how humankind can have such a negative impact on the environment. There is a lot to see in Godzilla, beyond the basic monster elements. Like many of the films on this list, it’s dated by today’s standards, but still remains one of the greatest giant monster movies ever made.

1. King Kong (1933)

Before jaw dropping Jaeger battles, before the gravitas of Godzilla, before the radioactive Rhedosaurus terrorized New York, there was the ultimate, original giant monster that terrified audiences as much as he pulled at their heart strings. The Eighth Wonder of the World, the master of Skull Island, and the last of his kind, King Kong has remained a cinematic icon ever since he first scaled the Empire State Building way back in 1933. The film is a unique example of truly groundbreaking special effects that still hold an impact to this day. It’s no secret how Kong and fellow Skull Island inhabitants were animated using stop motion effects, but the fact that it still looks impressive decades later truly is impressive. Even though Godzilla is a foreboding and no less iconic kaiju, it’s important to point out that the character was originally portrayed by an actor in a suit, and though this would become something of a trademark for Godzilla, it was seen as lower tech than Kong’s fluent and believable stop motion, even back in the fifties. To somehow make a giant ape beast appear ferocious and yet also emote and be a sympathetic character is challenging enough, but that it was done in the early thirties using an eighteen inch rubber model covered in rabbit fur blows my mind—that, and have it interact with actors, other stop motion creatures, and battle planes atop a giant building? It’s no wonder King Kong has remained a film favourite for so long, and Kong himself the king of the giant movie monsters. Peter Jackson’s remake from 2005 is a faithful and even more epic version, but being more epic doesn’t necessarily make it better. Though not as classic, it’s among the best remakes in recent memory, and one of the best kaiju films of the past decade. Both movies are great, but it’s the original that will always be king of the giant monster movies.



Giant Monsters image from www.cartuneland.com
Jason and the Argonauts image from blockbusterreviews.tripod.com
Them! poster from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them! 
Godzilla poster from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_(1954_film)