Channel Awesome
It’s my 50th episode spectacular as I count down my top 10 favorite Godzilla films!
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I was suprised seeing 2014 one in this list considering how much mixed opinions people tend to have about it.
You simply miss the point: Godzilla was always corny low budged Sci-Fi series, so standard wasn’t high here from beginning. Godzilla 2014 could be easily best Godzilla ever, but they screw some mayor details making it just good, when people except something great. Personally I think that if we cut half hour of useless “son plot” we see that this movie indeed could be really good, but they miss opportunity.
I also forget to mention that this part of movie (son plot) clearly look like forced by ignorant producer. Beginning and end of that movie was consistent, but not middle part what was clearly stretched (and because of that boring).
Also I don’t have problem with change of protagonist like other people, because it make even more clear that after first half hour of movie there shouldn’t be other protagonist then Godzilla. It was almost silly that protagonist son participate in every mayor action in long way which Godzilla goes. I’m almost sure that those actions were planed as septate parts by random people, but someone say “we need marines protagonist! How we can’t have one.. daaa”, and so we have out of place subplot about which no one care.
But still even with those flaws it is solid Godzilla movie.
I don’t get why you are so angry at me. I was just stating that it splits opinions and that’s why I didn’t expect it to be on list. I was not giving my opinion about it because I have not seen it.
Sorry. I’m still pissed on that movie flaws, even if I consider it as good one. I don’t intended to attack you here.
I Believe what the underlining appeal to Godzilla ( For Me as an adult ), and reflected better in some versions than others;
Is that Godzilla put’s an actual character to Natural and Man made disasters that are beyond human control. The Good movies (A yes… I add 2014GZ to that list) Show the human endurance, and offeres a level of “philisophical” hope that humanity can pull through the greatest devastation. This may be to deeply thinking on the franchize, but I’m sure GZ’s creators were thinking long those lines.
Personally, I think the Heisei series is the best out of all of them. They’re not goofy, they take their plots seriously (even if a few of them are unintentionally funny and stupid regardless), and they had the G-Man at his best. My favorites:
10. Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster
Pretty much like it for all the reasons you said. Plus I loved the volleyball contest between Godzilla and Rodan.
9. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
First time I’ve seen Godzilla face a formidable foe who does significant damage. Plus Mechagodzilla shoots out so many lasers and rockets and causes so many explosions, how can one not be entertained?
8. Godzilla 1985 (American version)
I’ve seen both cuts, the Japanese cut, and the American cut. I found the American cut to be superior for 1 reason only: editing. The editing for the entire movie is superior compared to the Japanese version, making the pacing tighter, the action scenes smoother, and ultimately disguising the goofiness of the Godzilla suit better. It did a better job of handling the placement of the subplot with the main plot. I feel bad for admitting this, but the American cut is better than the Japanese cut.
7. Godzilla (2014)
Fantastic buildup with just the right amount of monster shown to introduce America back to the giant lizard. Here’s hoping the sequel will be better, and it might very well be, as it’s got Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah in it from what I’ve heard.
6. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
This one is great because it has, undoubtadly, the best monster fight out of all the Godzilla movies. It’s not just a straight up mindless brawl. There’s actual tactics and strategizing going on between the two monsters in this fight. If anyone wants to see the best monster fight G-man has been in, look to the finale of this film.
5. Godzilla vs. Biollante
Pretty much for the reasons you gave. Nice plot that introduced the psychic element that, unfortunately, wouldn’t be used well enough in the later films of the Heisei series. They came close to doing so in Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla, but they didn’t do enough with it there, plus that movie was terrible.
4. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
One of the most emotional Godzilla films ever made. At first I didn’t like it, but after a 2nd viewing it grew on me. We get a proper introduction to the son of Godzilla, plus a fight where Godzilla actually gets killed against Mechagodzilla, before getting resurrected in a deus ex machina moment. Poor use of Miki the psychic (same goes for how she was used in vs. Ghidorah).
3. Godzilla: Final Wars
A huge guilty pleasure. The ultimate film in cheesiness, cliches, and so-bad-it’s-good moments, only equaled by the number of explosions and actions that rival Michael Bay. And it does blatant ripoffs of The Matrix, Return of the Jedi, and Independence Day, to name a few. As ridiculous as it is entertaining.
2. Gojira (Japanese version of the original)
Japanese version is definitely superior to the American version. What else can be said about this that hasn’t already been said?
1. Godzilla vs. Destroyah
My personal favorite. The best of the best. It takes a plot element used in the original to make the Heisei series come full circle. It’s also the most emotional out of all of them, more so than Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. Seeing Godzilla Jr. get annihilated, and seeing Godzilla die. When the final form of Destroyah is revealed, it is an amazing moment. A demon. A devil. A bat out of hell. The story is very good too, with the stakes getting raised higher and higher, the countdown to Godzilla’s implosion, the direness of the whole situation. Plus Godzilla gets really messed up by Destroyah, but also dishes out some epic flame breathe that gets more and more powerful the more he overheats.
For the record, there is an extended ending to the Destroyah movie, that shows Godzilla dealing the final blows. But it wasn’t filmed very well, so they did away with it. Besides, it’s only fitting that the humans who created Destroyah are the ones who destroy it, just like they did with Godzilla in the original Gojira.
No, don’t feel bad about it, I agree with you on Godzilla 1985. I finally got around to seeing the original version and some scenes were not well paced. The submarine attack is way more better in the US version and the missile sequence is actually really suspenseful. Plus, Raymond is always welcome and he does seem to be actually trying to work with some shoddy moments. I swear, Woody Allen is trying to ruin my life because his stupid What’s Up, Tiger Lily? movie is what lead to New World Pictures trying to do a parody dub of Return of a Godzilla. Burr wasn’t having any of that shit. He only agreed to do the scenes if they respected the source material and the studio execs caved in. Again, if somebody edited the extra scenes with the Japanese Prime Minister back in, the US killsat, and edited out the Cold War propaganda moment where the Russian captain “is trying to activate the missile by pressing a button on the wall,” I would be so happy. But I’m glad I own a copy of it either way. Godzilla vs. Biollante is a great follow-up. It’d be perfect for a double feature.
Hell yes. I think I like Final Wars because of the all-star cast they give for the monsters. Plus, we finally get to see Godzilla school that 1998 phony on who is truly the real Godzilla.
Good list, not sure I’ve seen number 3, but I’ve seen the others and liked them all to some degree. Only two I didn’t see on your list that probably would be on mine are Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (I really like the humans in that one) and Final Wars (love the number of monsters, but admittedly longer fights would’ve been nice).
That being said, I really need to rewatch…all of the movies. Where did I put my DVD/VHS collection?
Joker and Gordon working together to defeat a crazy batman would be awesome!
Oh yeah… umm Godzilla’s cool too.
With Frank Miller that is possible ;D
I’ve always been puzzled about fan complaints about the 2014 movie not having enough Godzilla in it. The old movies often didn’t have much more screen time. In Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, for example, the fight between them is only about 2 minutes at the very end and even the preliminary fights between Godzilla and Rodan are very short and towards the end. At the very least the 2014 movie gave human scenes that made sense to the monster story, and not just some “jewel thief” filler like a lot of the older ones had.
Would I have liked to have seen more Godzilla? Sure, but at the same time, there’s only so long that a fight between what are really a couple giant animals can go on before it becomes tedious and repetitive, and you begin to wonder if either can even hurt the other. Think of a pro-wrestling match. How long could one go on using even very energetic and talented performers before it got boring. Maybe 15 minutes at most, and that’s with people who are a lot more mobile and eclectic in their moves than kaiju.
My personal complaint about the lack of Godzilla has to do with the use of cutaways every time a big monster moment happens before the final battle. It’s one thing to stumble upon aftermath like the beginning island scene and another to close the doors right as the MUTO jumps at Godzilla. The fact that it felt like the director messing with me instead of a natural progression in the story took me right out of it. Even then, I’d probably be much more forgiving if the human side didn’t follow a protagonist that was blander than vanilla paste on a saltine cracker.
I think it is case of bad movie pasting (or producer needles intervention). Middle part of movie is stretched, and people expect to Godzilla action start sun because of teasing, but needles plot take it on hold for too long. When action start people are too tired to enjoy final battle.
I think Brad Jones had the perfect response to the “Godilla’s barely in it” complaint:
“Congratulations, you’ve just seen your first Godzilla movie.”
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) IS the original title not a “newer title.” It was Mothra’s movie!
I’ll be the first to admit that I still wish there was more of the Big G in the new movie, but the scenes with him were awsome! I still loved the crowds reaction at the airport termenal, when he first arrived in the movie. One second the people screaming in absolute terror, the camera pans over to Godzillas enormous feet, everyone is instantly shocked into silence. I loved it.
Okay, wow! What a list! As a resident G-Fan, I have to give some commentary on this list, which….I really liked!
10. Ghidrah, The Three Headed Monster
Great way to kick off the list. I can understand such a pivotal title being so low on the list, because as important as it was….it’s still pretty goofy. But the goofiness is *balanced* by the creativity, and the film set Godzilla on his all-important path to becoming Reptar, an element that would become as inseparable from the character as the nuclear weapon symbolism. This movie possibly broke more ground for the range a Godzilla movie was capable of than any other.
9. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
Personally, I’m a bigger fan of Terror of Mechagodzilla, but I can see an argument for either one. While the King-Puppy-Lion song goes on for too long considering that the monster had little payoff in the actual fight, the foreboding nature of the first half of the film gives some serious gravity to the threat of Mechagodzilla.
8. Godzilla vs Biollante
HELL. YES. I am right there with you, this one is undervalued. I was somehow able to get ahold of a VHS copy when I was young, and I watched the hell out of this sucker. While I had also seen a fair number of Godzilla flicks on Monstervision before this, Biollante was the one I kept coming back to, because you’re absolutely on the mark about this one being a great introductory title. It teaches the audience to roll with the absurd elements and still treat them seriously within the plot, something you must be able to do to properly enjoy Godzilla flicks.
7. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
Okay, this is where we’re gonna have to disagree somewhat. I’m also of a mind that Godzilla should have laid the finishing blow to Destoroyah, but there’s no need to rub it in. Just because I feel like it bears mentioning to the fine folks out there, the reason the military finished off Destoroyah was because Godzilla sent the sucker *packing*. Big G unleashed the red beam and the nuclear pulse on the sucker so hard that it forced him to run away crying in pain. I’m just saying, don’t forget that Godzilla did shine in that fight, even if he didn’t land the final blow.
6. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
What can I say about GvKG that hasn’t already been said by the fanbase? Well, you certainly found a way to do that. My friend Chris, who is a bigger fan of Ghidorah than Godzilla, has been arguing for years that Ghidorah should be this ancient Lovecraftian horror from the depths of the inky black night sky, a herald of the end times and devourer of planets, not a group of TY toys that got melted together in a microwave. On his behalf, thank you for pointing out that the Dorats are too cute to take seriously.
5. Godzillla 1985
You should be commended for defending this title, because it had the right approach. Did it need a monster to fight? No. It was trying to be a modern re-telling of the original 1954 film’s core concepts, and I always thought it did that job well enough. The film is moody, the score haunting, and I loved the core concept of trying to re-engineer Godzilla’s original purpose. I think by that time his Reptar-side had garnered a generation of youngin’s who grew up and were disappointed to find their once-hero a killing machine in a bleak end-of-the-world movie, but it was a justified counter to the saccharine silliness of the late Showa-era. It had an important role, and while its re-watchabilitiy isn’t the highest for some fans, it deserves more love, damnit.
…Gotta disagree with you on the Super X, though. Found it lame and not worth the buildup. Super-X 2 one-upped its predecessor so bad….
4. Godzilla (2014)
I loved this movie. It wasn’t the dream movie I had been waiting over a decade and a half for, but I also had to accept that the movie I wanted it to be was probably never going to precipitate in the first place. But it *tried* to be that dream movie; oh, did it try. Whatever it ended up being in the eyes of the fan base, it should be commended simply on the fact that it *was exactly what the fan base needed it to be*: a serious-enough take on the concept that re-invigorated interest in the character in America. It needed to be a hit, and that’s what it was. So, thank you, Godzilla 2014. You were worth the wait.
3. Godzilla vs Teh Thingra
This one is considered one of the best…..and I’m inclined to agree…….mostly………
I dunno, I kinda had a few problems with this one. There’s plenty of Godzilla wrecking shit in this film, to be sure, but….this also kinda shows how overexposure of the beast can be a bad thing. The pace bothered me on this one for some reason, and the villain really oughta be renamed “Lootin’ Plunder”. I mean, it’s better than Ghidrah, which is also one of the classics, but this is one of the times when the more serious angle just….doesn’t work as well. Maybe it’s the fact that the suit really doesn’t look very good this time, maybe it’s a lack of atmosphere, but something about this movie….just always finds a way to bore me. You may proceed to launch rocks at me, my brethren.
2. GMK
GMK is metal. GMK is win. Everyone should see GMK. Go. Now. Watch it. What are you doing reading this comment? I SAID GO WATCH IT DAMNIT!! C’MERE YOU–*cut to static*
1.Gojira
…And no one is surprised. You couldn’t have taken this one off the list like Linkara did for Holy Terror? …Well….no. You couldn’t have. Why? Because then you wouldn’t have talked about it, and it’s definitely a movie worth talking about. So, for that reason, it deserves to be at number one, even if we all knew it was coming.
Overall, fantastic list with some great thoughts. Kudos and happy new year!
HELL YES, ANOTHER FAN OF GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE! Sorry, as you can tell, I really love that movie.
My problem with the 2014 Godzilla is that it recycles the same tired disaster movie plot we’ve seen countless times in the last decade. Just with Kaiju. Still, you can do much worse with the Godzilla movie. (and I don’t just mean the 98 abomination)
I want to point out that, unlike in American theatres, here in England we don’t tend to cheer in theatres when watching a movie.
That said, there actually WAS cheering when Godzilla used his nuclear breath when I went to see the 2014 film (of which I joined in on lol)
Americans don’t cheer all that often in theaters either. At least in my experience.
People who complain about Godzilla 2014 over Godzilla’s small screen time has NOT been paying attention to the other Godzilla movies. Outside of maybe Millennium series, the classic movies had very little Godzilla in it.
The problem with Biollante being a good starting point for new fans, and why it’s so unknown, is because during the VHS releases it was ridiculously hard to find and had a limited run. Don’t know why, but it did hit it hard. The same thing happened to a lot of the movies between the goofy showa hero era and the millennials but not as badly as Biollante.
Nice list! I’m a big Godzilla fan, and I love these movies all around, and I have to say your list was kind of close to mine.
Here are my Top Ten Favorites:
10) Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster (US or Japanese Version) = Love this one too. I remember watching it as a kid and I went crazy when Godzilla and Rodan teamed up to help Mothra fight Rodan. Turns out Godzilla is fun to root for. Who knew? It was Toho’s first real monster mash and it succeeded in spades. The Princess Martian Prophetess being hunted by assassins storyline was bizarre and felt like an entirely different movie at times, but all of it is throughly entertaining, so I didn’t mind too much. I think you summed it up well when you said it was lighter than some of the ones that came before, but not as silly as what came after it, so it has this nice balance to it.
9) GMK: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (Japanese version) = My problems with this one are problems I have with the Millennium Series as a whole. The CGI in these films were AWFUL, and that definitely comes across here (Ghidorah’s big wingspan reveal shot is the worst that monster has ever looked). I was also tiring of the constant rebooting of the timeline and rehashing Mothra & Ghidorah again so soon after the Mothra Trilogy AND the Heisei films just felt repetitive to me. I mean this series really did repeat the Heisei series. In the 90s, they brought back Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, & Mechagodzilla all in a row after being on the shelf for decades, and it was awesome. In this series, it was like “Oh lets do that again, even though they’ve only been gone for a few years, so it doesn’t feel like as big of a deal”. With this film, I would have preferred it if they went with the original plan of doing Angurias, Varan, & Baragon as the guardian monsters.
All of that aside, this one was definitely the best of the reboots that the Millennium films had to offer. Godzilla’s back story and general nastiness was just awesome to behold and they really made Godzilla a truly destructive force. The more fantasy based setting allowed it to stand out among the series and I wish Kaneko had returned as director. If he had gotten another movie or two under his belt, I think he could have done for Godzilla what he did for Gamera in the 90s (Gamera 3 is a personal favorite of mine in the history of kaiju films). As is, you get a really great kaiju action flick that presents Godzilla as the horrific force of destruction he was originally meant to be and it was great. I few nitpicks keep this from being a definite Top 5 for me, but as is, it is definitely the best of the Millennium films.
8) Godzilla Vs. Biollante (Either Us or Japanese Version) = I absolutely agree about this one being underrated. To me, it is one of the most ambitious Godzilla films ever made. It crams ALOT in there with genetic engineering, a family death subplot, bio-terrorism, psychics, fictional countries, deadly assasins, and not to mention all the different methods used to fight Godzilla with Super X-2 (love that thing), the artificial lightning storm, and the Anti-Nuclear Bacteria. Yet somehow, it manages to stay steady and is well paced, and fun throughout. And Biollante itself is truly a marvel. When I vocie my preference for practical effects over CGI, I cite Biollante as an example. Just look at that thing! With all the tendrillls, moving parts, and just the size of it…it really is a marvel of practical special effects, and to me, it is one of Toho’s greatest achievements. Visually, this is probably my favorite Godzilla movie to watch because The Big G has never looked better, Biollante is fantastic, the action is fun, and all the story elements are creative and make the movie a true standout in the series.
7) Terror of Mechagodzilla (Uncut Japanese Version) = I love all the Mechagodzilla movies (except for 2002’s Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. That one was weak sauce). I agree that the original GvsMG stands out for its wackiness and pure fun, and the final battle of that film is one of the best Godzilla fights ever. However, if I had to pick a favorite Mechagodzilla entry, I’ll go with this one. I should specify that the Uncut Japanese version is the way to go with this one because it tells the complete story. The version I initially grew up with was butchered to a degree that much of the story and ultimate tragedy was lost. Check out Classic Media’s DVD release of the film to get the full experience.
Anyone, this is a far more serious take on superhero Godzilla, which is fitting since Honda returned ot the director’s chair one last time and Ifukube provides a truly haunting score. I love Godzilla’s Batman-esque entrance in the film too. The characters of Katsura and Dr. Mafune as memorable stand outs among Godezilla human characters and they help drive a very good final entry to the original series. I also love that Godzilla has no sidekick in this one and has to tangle with two monsters alone with mankind playing an active role in helping him. It makes for a fantastic climax. While the movie is open ended and doesn’t officially conclude Godzilla’s story, it is a satisfying final entry for the original films.
6) Godzilla (2014) = Yeah, I loved this one too. True, I was disappointed that Cranston wasn’t in the movie that much, but the good far outweighs the bad. Getting a great American Godzilla film is something I never thought I’d get, but thank heavens this little baby came out. What I loved about this movie was how it treated the monsters. They were huge, destructive, powerful, and God-like. I felt like not seeing much of Godzilla actually enhanced the film because it led to great build up and a far greater satisfaction whenever he did show up. In today’s day and age where we get CGI sensory overload (Michael Bay, I’m looking at you), it was refreshing to get more of an old school style approach that built suspense and anticipation for the monsters, and all of it built to an amazing climactic battle that was one of the most satisfying endings I’ve seen to a movie all year. The 1998 film took the God out of Godzilla for sure. This movie though is unmistakably a Godzilla flick with the formula of the superhero days in the 70s, the tone of the 80s & 90s, and giving the monsters the weight and power of the original 1954 film. I also loved that the movie felt Spielbergian too that led to me thinking about movies like Jaws and Close Encounters. This movie made me nostalgic for things I didn’t even realize I missed. Again, with the sensory overload style of blockbuster, it was refreshing to see one slow it down and create a great mood and atmosphere and presenting the monsters with majesty rather than in your face explosion fests (again Bay, looking at you, seriously Transformers 4 made me appreciate Godzilla ten times more).
5) Destroy All Monsters (US or Japanese version) = People seem to be down on this one nowadays, but I love it. It was the last Godzilla film from the original films I was able to get my mits on, which is strangely appropriate. Basically the movie is Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero on steroids, but I love it. It has all the classic B-movie Sci-Fi tropes with a macho hero (the international dub gives Kubo’s character a hilarious man’s man hero voice), cooky aliens (sparkly capes and cowls, classy), UFOs, and all sorts of junk. As for your criticism about the monsters being used in glorfied cameos, I don’t know. I felt like except for Baragon and Varan, they all got their big moments to shine, which is hard to accomplish in a movie with 11 monsters in it. For example, this is the movie that made me fall in love with Gorosauras. The scenes of the monsters attacking the various cities are all great and it was nice to see miniature sets that looked different from what we usually see. Also, I think the four monster attack on Tokyo and the Battle on Mount Fuji are two of the best monster scenes Toho ever produced and truly captured the strength of the premise. Final Wars topped this one in terms of how many monsters it had, but that movie crammed WAY too much into it to feel like a complete film. This one feels like it is right out of its era and has everything I loved about those old 60s kaiju flicks.
That said, I would have really liked to have Baragon & Varan actually do something and for The Gargantuas to be in it. Of course I understand now that Nakajima couldn’t play both Godzilla and Gairah, but try explaining that to 9 year old me.
4) Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (Japanese version) = You covered it pretty well, so I don’t really have to elaborate too much, but this is one of the best Godzilla stories ever. It has a big cheese factor, but it intertwined with an engaging story that keeps even the characters on their toes with all the role reversals of the monsters. I mean both Godzilla & Ghidorah switch sides in the film, and it is great to watch all of that constantly evolve. One thing I love about this film is the story between Godzilla and Mr. Shindo. It creates one of my favorite moments in the series and has some great emotional moments. With the time traveling, UFOs, cyborgs, and everything else, this one is probably the definitive Sci-Fi Godzilla film. I also have to say, Godzilla doesn’t show up until over an hour into the film (not counting the Godzillasauras scenes), so to those that complain about Godzila’s limited screen time, I cite this movie as an example of how that can work beautifully. Also, I actually love Ghidorah’s origin in this one since it ties him to Godzilla’s beginnings as well, making it feel like they were destined to be mortal enemies.
3) Mothra Vs. Godzilla (US Version) = Yes, I actually prefer the US edited version. The dubbing is quite good, and we do get an additional scene of the US Navy attacking Godzilla that is fantastic, but has never made it into any Japanese cut of the film even to this day. So yay! We get a bonus. I look at this film as being what King Kong Vs. Godzilla should have been because it captures the strength of both monsters and the full spectacle of having them face each other while also treating it seriously and making a good thematic story out of it. Also, Godzilla’s entrance makes perfect sense! People seem to forget about the Typhoon at the start of the film. Well, Godzilla was washed ashore by it (still unconscious from his battle with Kong) and he was bured underneath all the debris. So yeah, BOOM! Anyways, this entry gets praise from me for being the highmark in quality for Godzilla’s key creators. It might be Ifukube’s best score, it is Honda’s best work as director aside from the original, and Eiji Tusubraya’s special effects team was never better than they were in this film. It is a classic of the kaiju genre without a doubt.
2) Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah (Japanese version) = If this had been Godzilla’s finale film, it would have been a heck of a way to go out. I love how it book ends iwth the original film with so many call backs, and a brilliant final foe for Godzilla. The Son of Godzilla has never been better than in this film (and yes, Thank God he actually looks like his dad in this one). The action scenes are great and the threat of Godzilla’s meltdown creates a tense feeling throughout the entire film and technically, it is the most dangerous Godzilla has ever been and I love that. Also, Godzilla’s death scene is one of the series’ finest moments and it felt like an appropriate farewell to the great cinematic titan. It has some great B-Movie Sci-Fi elements to it like lasers that can freeze things (lol) and the mini-Destroyers being like Alien and the like, which is all great fun, and it all builds to a great final battle for Godzilla. It has everything I love about Godzilla and felt like an appropriate farewell.
1) Gojira (Uncut Japanese version) = Best Monster Movie ever made. I don’t care what anyone says. I love King Kong, Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the other works of Harryhausen, Jaws, Alien, Jurassic Park, Pacific Rim, various other Kaiju classics like Rodan & War of the argantuas and many others, but the original Godzilla trumps them all. I don’t even want to explain why. Just go see it if you haven’t already. I will also throw some love to the US version. It is respectful of the source material even if it does cut a lot of it out, and Raymond Burr provides a nice additional perspective with Godzilla being a worldwide threat rather than just a Japanese one. Also, that was the version I grew up with so I can never completely abandon it and to its credit, it has its own flavor over the uncut version, so I can watch both and get a different experience. That is different from other US edits where I am just getting the Japanese version with missing scenes and bad dubbing.
I will comment on Godzilla 1985 as well since you put it on your list. Honestly, I don’t dislike it. As you mentioned, the atmosphere is great, and in some scenes, I think Godzilla looks terrifying. The action scenes with Godzilla stomping through Tokyo and fighting the Super X are great too. I also love the Cold War era angle the film has which makes it different from the rest of the series. However, the film is hampered by a BORING set of human characters and some of the shots of Godzilla with the cybot prop (or whatever that was) look herky jerky to me. Also, the scenes in the US version are awful outside of Burr’s presence. As much as I crap on the US version, Burr’s speech at the end sums up Godzilla better than I ever could and is one of my favorite pieces of dialogue in any Godzilla movie. So overall, I’d say G85 is one of those that is good, but could have been better. I do wish it would get a DVD/Blu Ray release already. It feels weird that this has sort of become the lost Godzilla film in the US. Come on Toho! Give us a proper release! I would gladly spend money on it to complete my collection and enjoy a solid entry in the series. I would love a release with both the US & Japanese cuts of the film just to have both.
Overall, nice vid. Can’t believe Godzilla is 60 years old
“King Seesar” is actually a mispronunciation of “King Shisa”. A Shisa is a guardian beast from Okinawan mythology, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog.
I agree that Biollante has one of the best designs of any Toho monster, but Godzilla vs Biollante was pretty meh.
The original script for GMK did not feature Mothra and King Ghidorah; Godzilla was originally to fight Baragon, Manda, and Varan. The latter two were replaced with the more popular monsters in order to increase the chances of people seeing the film, but I honestly would have preferred to see the original lineup, especially since it would have given him opponents specializing in terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial combat, rather than one ground-based opponent and two flyers.
I suspect the reason Godzilla vs. Biollante is underrated is it was nearly impossible to find. Its ’92 VHS release wasn’t very wide spread. Even by ’93 it was nearly impossible to find. Believe me, I spent twenty years looking for the damn thing at a price that wasn’t highway robbery. Thankfully it got a DVD/Blue Ray release in time for Christmas ’12, so its available for all to enjoy now.
So of course, I didn’t find out till a year later.
I still love Godzilla Final Wars most of all. Its the cheesiest thing in existence, but dear lord does it have some of the largest hams east of Brian Blessed! And Godzilla beating the stuffing out of all his old foes in one movie is a tough act to follow. Especially with Godzilla in Name Only appearing just to be beat in seconds.
wow now you really got me wanting to check out the godzilla movies.good list.i’ll probably start with the 2014 one then do thw original that started it all and then go from there.I’ve only seen one of them and that was the 1998 version.it was dumb.i’ll probably catchthe others on netflix.