Godzilla is a long-running series about a monster named Godzilla, and he stomps around a lot, sometimes saving the world, sometimes threatening it, sometimes being an allegory for nuclear weapons, and sometimes just being a goofy little guy. Also, it’s technically a series about a few different monsters named Godzilla, as there are various continuities within the broader franchise, and then there are so many other monsters not named Godzilla, too.
The series originated in Japan, and though the American movies might have more appeal to English speakers, the Japanese ones are usually where it’s at in terms of quality. Ranking all the Japanese films is almost the same as ranking the whole damn series, but if it gets a few more eyeballs on some of the best – and sometimes overlooked, at least internationally speaking – Godzilla movies, then maybe that’s all that matters. Below, a few that aren’t so good will be first up, and then things will get better, culminating with a top 10 or so that is, effectively, the same as the top 10 Godzilla movies made anywhere and in any language. Probably not many surprises here, but that’s okay.
33
‘Godzilla: The Planet Eater’ (2018)
Image via Toho
The concluding film in a disappointing anime trilogy that came out in 2017 and 2018, getting a little worse with every one, any attempt to describe Godzilla: The Planet Eater will make it sound a lot cooler than it actually is. Like the other two, it takes place way in the future, and concerns a plot to take the Earth back from Godzilla and other monsters who dominate the planet.
Godzilla is about as big as he’s ever been, and Ghidorah is in this one too, and it’s animated, so you’d think anything could really happen; no limitations like you might have with a moderately budgeted live-action film and all. But Godzilla: The Planet Eater is instead the sloggiest of slogs, delivering nothing by way of cool action or characters that are even remotely interesting. This is already more of a word count spewed out than a film like this deserves. Avoid, even if you’re a Godzilla super fan.
32
‘All Monsters Attack’ (1969)
Image via Toho
All Monsters Attack is barely a Godzilla movie, and feels slapped together, coming out not long after a surprisingly satisfying Godzilla film with a similar title that could’ve been a finale for the whole series up until that point. All Monsters Attack feels more like a Gamera film, but not even one of the good Gamera films, going all in on being kid-friendly, but in a way that kids might even find a bit boring and disappointing.
It’s about a boy who’s being bullied, and he befriends Godzilla’s son, the ever-divisive (though admittedly loyal) Minilla. The two hang out and watch stock footage fights from previous Godzilla movies. At least All Monsters Attack has the decency to not waste too much of your time, at just 70 minutes in length, but that’s about the nicest thing that can be said regarding it.
31
‘Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle’ (2018)
Image via Netflix
Ah, back to the anime trilogy. Hello darkness, my old friend. This one is not as bad as Godzilla: The Planet Eater, but that’s not saying much, as the enticingly titled Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle is also a pretty grim viewing experience. It should at least be messy in an interesting way, given it features Mechagodzilla as a giant weapon, rather than his usual appearance, somehow?
Like, recontextualizing iconic Godzilla foes is often interesting, and Godzilla himself has been reshaped and redefined countless times, but it doesn’t make much sense what they do with Mechagodzilla here, and it wastes the legendary character just as the third anime film wasted King Ghidorah. The only reason Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle isn’t worse than Godzilla: The Planet Eater is that, when it’s over, you might have the faintest hope that the third movie in the trilogy will make the whole strange endeavor worthwhile. As outlined earlier, it doesn’t, and hope turns out to be a dangerous thing for a die-hard Godzilla fan to have.
30
‘Son of Godzilla’ (1967)
Image via Toho
So, some of the problems found in All Monsters Attack are also present in Son of Godzilla, but it’s also a bit better, most notably in the sense that it’s not dominated by stock footage. It’s not great, but this is the film where things start getting kind of decent ranking-wise, and everything from here on out is worth watching if you like giant monster movies.
Minilla is annoying, but Godzilla – as a reluctant adoptive father – also finds him a bit annoying, so that makes Son of Godzilla pretty funny at times.
There being only a handful of Godzilla movies from Japan worth skipping entirely does speak to the strength of the series. Again, Son of Godzilla is not indicative of many strengths found throughout the series, but it’s watchable and has an odd sort of charm, for better or worse indeed being the movie that introduced Minilla. He’s annoying, but Godzilla – as a reluctant adoptive father – also finds him a bit annoying, so that makes Son of Godzilla funny, at times.
29
‘Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters’ (2017)
close up of Godzilla in Planet of the MonstersImage via Toho
There is almost something to Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, and it might well be close to watchable so long as you accept very little of what gets set up will be paid off in the next two movies. Divorced entirely from the disappointments that follow, you could technically call it an adequate set-up, somewhat intriguing, and maybe a tad admirable for what it does differently compared to other Godzilla movies.
It’s animated for one, and takes place 20,000 years in the future, with the prologue outlining how Earth did, in fact, become a planet of/for the monsters being kind of neat. And the storyline that follows said prologue, concerning humans coming back to reclaim Earth, has some momentum and promise once it gets underway. It’s all squandered eventually, and even on its own, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters peaks early, but there was some effort put into this one compared to the two films that followed, for whatever that might be worth.
28
‘Godzilla Raids Again’ (1955)
godzilla-anguirus-godzilla-raids-again-social-featureImage via Toho
It feels a bit strange to rank the second Godzilla movie (and the first to feature the titular monster fighting another giant monster) so low, but Godzilla Raids Again is a little messy and a tad rushed. It also feels torn between doing what the first movie did again (at least they acknowledge that repetition in the title) and laying the groundwork for most of the vs. movies that followed.
It’s also one of the few Japanese Godzilla movies to get an American do-over that altered a little more than just the dialogue, in the form of 1959’s Gigantis, the Fire Monster. So, it’s a historically interesting Godzilla movie, and has some merit for having a monster smackdown and introducing Anguirus before the likes of Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah made their big screen debuts, but it’s a bit too flawed as a film overall to call it much more than decent/slightly interesting.
27
‘Godzilla 2000: Millennium’ (1999)
Image via Toho
The best thing about Godzilla 2000: Millennium is some of its dialogue, which is weird to say about a giant monster movie, but this is the one that ends with a human character dropping the immortal: “Godzilla is… inside all of us.” You can’t hate it for that alone, and that it follows one of the more memorable and ridiculous death scenes in the history of the series makes it even better.
Otherwise, it’s probably the weakest film that kicked off an era of Godzilla films, with the Showa and Heisei eras both getting more confident initial films (in 1954 and 1984, respectively). Godzilla 2000: Millennium kicks off the Millennium era in a somewhat underwhelming way, but it came out a year after the infamously not-very-good 1998 Godzilla movie (the worst of the American ones), so it was an automatic return to form for the series, and undoubtedly superior.
26
‘Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla’ (1994)
Image via Toho
You might think SpaceGodzilla would be a total joke, given his name and all, but he’s a surprisingly powerful foe, even if he’s not exactly the most creative one. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is really just that, giving you more of an indication of what to expect than most of the other “vs.” movies, which are also pretty blatant and upfront about what they are.
But with SpaceGodzilla, you know it already. It’s a version of Godzilla, but he’s from spaaaaace. Most of the other Godzilla movies that involve extraterrestrial foes – or aliens using monsters to try and conquer the planet – are better than Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, but this one is still pretty fun, albeit kind of clunky compared to most of the other entries in the Godzilla Heisei era. Still, a low point in that run of movies isn’t inherently a bad thing, and it’s worth watching this one for SpaceGodzilla, as well as the continued growth of Godzilla Jr., with that character really being paid off in the final Heisei era film, which came out one year on from Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.
25
‘Ebirah, Horror of the Deep’ (1966)
Image via Toho
Plenty of monsters introduced during Godzilla’s Showa era have reappeared – or been re-imagined – in later films released after the 1970s, but Ebirah remains a bit under-utilized outside Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. He did show up in a certain 2004 film that had appearances (sometimes of the cameo variety) of most Godzilla monsters, but he’s only really at the forefront of the one movie he gets to be the titular monster of.
Still, being in a Godzilla movie where Godzilla himself doesn’t get mentioned in the title is kind of a big deal, and so the handful of Ebirah fans out there (there are dozens of us! Dozens!) can take some comfort in that. Otherwise, uh… Ebirah, Horror of the Deep is just okay, as far as Showa era Godzilla movies go. It’s got a big lobster monster fighting Godzilla. That’s enough. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep is enough.
24
‘Godzilla vs. Megaguirus’ (2000)
Image via Toho
You know, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus sometimes gets a bit more criticism than it deserves. Sure, it’s not amazing, and its placement here does indicate it’s on the lower end of things, as far as Japanese Godzilla movies go, but it’s a bit better than Godzilla 2000: Millennium. The titular Megaguirus is a novel foe for Godzilla to take on, and one that came about, as usual for the series, because of humans overextending themselves in trying to conquer Godzilla.
The most glaring flaw here is that some of the CGI is pretty wonky, but if you can get used to that as best as possible, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is a fun enough movie about big bugs, and Godzilla fighting an especially big bug. Seeing him fight a big lobster 34 years earlier was a bit more fun than you’d expect, and the same can be said for him taking on a big old dragonfly sort of thing.
AloJapan.com