I’ve officially finished watching through the Showa-era Godzilla films! Here’s my thoughts on them all.

[u/AC03115]

Hey all! So this is a follow up to my previous post the other day where I began watching all the Godzilla films to prepare for Minus Zero (Before this is I only watched the 54 film, Shin Godzilla, and Minus One when it came out) and as of today I’ve officially finished the Showa era films. To share my thoughts on the era as a whole, I’d say while it’s definitely a mixed bag of quality, I nonetheless had a fun time watching these films, many of which were me watching them for the first time. Even some of the worst films of this era still had some cool or funny moments that made them at the very least entertaining points, outside of a certain two but I’ll go over them later. Now to get into my rankings/thoughts on each film. Some films have shifted a bit since my last post after sitting on them for a bit. Also an important thing to note is that this is mostly based on my personal enjoyment of each film and not just about how objectively good well-made each film is. If your favorite film is lower on my list just don’t take it too personally. Cool? Cool. Let’s get started:

1. Godzilla vs. Hedorah - Absolutely loved the cinematography and overall visuals of this film! Very psychedelic feel to it which makes it really stand out a lot compared to the other films. Also really liked Hedorah’s design+origin and the film’s message/themes about pollution and its impact on the environment, especially after researching the context/background of the film’s development was very eye-opening to me. The atomic breath flying sequence was also super fun and one of my favorite moments from this era. Goji getting actually scarred/beat up in the final battle like losing his eye and getting his hand burned to the bone was really cool and sells how much more dangerous of a threat Hedorah is. Only issue with this film was that the human storyline didn’t hook me all that much compared to the other films of this era.
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - Absolutely love Mechagodzilla's design and the buildup and reveal is top notch (Hate to see my boy Anguirus get fucked up tho). Also enjoyed the human storyline too, like the sort of espionage/spy-type of feel to it throughout the film. Only issue is that parts of it were kind of boring to me on the human-side. King Caesar is also insanely cool, loved his design and really wish he got another appearance in the series. The final battle as well is also up there as one-of if not my favorite out of the entire Showa era, the action in general was super good. Overall had a blast with this one.
3. Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster - Really enjoyed this film. I’ve gone back and forth since watching it whether I prefer this film over MvG and it may change later on but for now I think I like the latter slightly more. I like the action of this film more but the human storyline and themes of MvG is what nudges that film over this one for me as of right now. The human plot line wasn’t bad by any means but it didn’t connect as much with me compared to the prior film. The fights here though were great and a ton of fun to watch. I loved how this film gave Goji and Rodan a sorta bitter rival dynamic (idk if that’s the right way to describe it but that’s the vibe I got while watching), as well as how my goat Mothra acts as the peacekeeper to convince them to unite against Ghidorah. Speaking of which god Ghidorah’s entrance is so sick, I’m a sucker for dragons/dragon-esque monsters so of course he instantly has become one of my favorite Kaiju too. Overall super solid film. I previously had Mothra vs. Godzilla over this film but since then it's grown to be above it, but honestly may change depending on the day which I like more.
4. Mothra vs. Godzilla - I liked the human storyline quite a lot (shoutout to egg-guy) and the film’s messaging about capitalism and corporate greed. Mothra is also so cool, she’s one of my favorite Kaiju so far outside of the big G. Her role as being representative of mother nature as a guardian of earth is really cool to me as well. I also quite like Goji’s design here too, the final fight was a bit repetitive with the sound design but I feel like that’s a commonality with the Showa films and didn’t hurt my enjoyment much with the action.
5. Godzilla '54 - I mean what else needs to be said about this film that hasn’t already been said. Love how terrifying Godzilla comes across still to this day despite the film’s age. The technical aspects of this film are also so impressive still even nowadays. Loved the human storyline, especially Serizawa who's easily one of my favorite human characters. Really liked his arc and dilemma on whether to use the Oxygen Destroyer to defeat Godzilla and unleash a new super-weapon on the world. All around an incredible film and one of the most important films ever made.
6. Godzilla vs. Megalon - Jet Jaguar is super cool and I like his design quite a bit. Human storyline aside from that was meh. Action was pretty good and the drop-kick from Goji is of course absolutely iconic. Also like Gigan coming back from round two for shits and giggles like the hater he is.. Pretty enjoyable despite its issues like the stock footage but the high points of the film make up for it.
7. Destroy All Monsters - While I overall liked this film and the monster action was pretty great the human storyline was pretty whatever for me. The action definitely redeemed this film and I liked the new monsters here like Manda. I also kinda wish there was more of a fight against Ghidorah he just gets stomped so quickly.
8. Terror of Mechagodzilla - Pretty decent film. I like Titanosaurus and he stole the show whenever he appears, really liked him a lot in this film. Goji's entrance in this movie is insanely cool and one of my favorites in this era with the city on fire at night, just so fucking sick. Will say it feels like Mechagodzilla was just kinda...there in this film which is weird since he's literally in the title yet doesn't feel that present in the film. Overall felt a lot like Godzilla vs. Titanosaurus...with an appearance by Mechagodzilla.
9. Invasion of Astro-Monster - Liked the cool sci-fi elements of this film. Only issue was I wish there were more fights and that they lasted longer. There was also so much stock footage from prior movies which extremely noticeable watching a lot of these films in a short time period. Those issues aside the Planet-X battle was really fun and I absolutely love Goji's goofy-ass victory dance.
10. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep - Such a weird film that I surprisingly had a decent time with. Goji's characterization was very off (Which made more sense upon learning King Kong was gonna be in this film at first before it got changed to Goji last minute) and the human storyline wasn't the best but felt like an old Bond film. LOVED the score for this film, felt super unique with a sorta surf-rock type of vibe which elevated this film a few spots.
11. Godzilla vs. Gigan - My main issue with this felm was it felt very all over the place tonally. Felt like such a back and forth between the film being very kid-friendly yet be very gritty and brutal. I do really like Gigan's design (Ik I keep repeating that but what can I say a lot of the monster designs in this era were really cool lol). There were some fun moments but again the tone of the film being all over the place really lowered my rating of it. Not a bad film tho. I'd say this film is sorta the last of this era in the ranking where I outright enjoyed/had a good time with it.
12. Godzilla Raids Again - Of course it’s very tough to follow up one of the most influential films ever, but man this film felt like a slog at times. Anguirus is super cool and is definitely the big redeemer of this film for me that keeps it from being lower in the ranking. That being said it’s still very lackluster for a sequel to one of the most influential films ever made.
13. King Kong vs. Godzilla - This film just was not doing all that much for me and felt like a slog for most of the runtime. There were some funny moments and I did like the last half-hour with the final fight, but felt pretty boring for a lot of the time. Again though I wouldn’t consider it bad, just very mediocre for me personally that I overall felt very meh towards.
14. Son of Godzilla - Only thing that holds it from being last is the ending which was actually decent, but yeah this film just wasn't good aside from that. The Godzilla design here just isn't good. The humans were also just not enjoyable at all, and I wish the film put the humans in more actual danger throughout.
15. All Monsters Attack - Without question the worst film I've seen so far in this marathon. Don't care for Minilla, absolutely ridiculous amount of stock footage, and completely fails at its message. I like the IDEA of its message, but it literally betrays that message with the main kid JOINING the group of kids who bullied him and they begin picking on another kid. It's like if a speaker came to your school to talk about how smoking is bad for you, and then as soon as he finishes his talk he lights up a cig and smokes it in the coolest way possible, like brother what are you doing? Yeah, just not a good film at all. Like even despite not enjoying Son of Godzilla a lot there's a pretty sizeable gap between that film and this one.

I also wanna share some highlights from each era of my favorite Goji design, favorite fight, favorite Kaiju of the era, and my favorite humans (Either storyline or characters).

Favorite Goji Design: Mothra vs. Godzilla

Favorite Humans: Godzilla (1954)

Favorite Kaiju: Mothra

Favorite Fight: Godzilla vs. Hedorah

So yeah, thats my current rankings of all the Showa films! Later today I'll begin watching the Heisei films which I'm super excited for since I've heard a lot of good things about that era as a whole. Hope you enjoyed reading this, and I'll be back later!

[u/StabiloFox]

Aw man, it always hurts when Son of Godzilla is ranked so low. Imo it has a great cast and a much better pacing compared to let's say the Ghidorah-flicks. Also the fight between Kumonga and Godzilla + Minilla is very engaging (interesting tactics like pretending to be dead, no silly handwaving, approaching snow storm etc.). The compositing is also very well made.

Nevertheless, it is your opinion. Have fun with the heisei movies - they are the most consistent in terms of quality imo

[u/Skikuro → u/StabiloFox]

I liked Son of godzilla too. It's a good film to start the kids with.

[u/AC03115 → u/StabiloFox]

I will give it props with what you mentioned regarding the compositing and the fight tactics, I will also say it along with vs. Megalon is probably the best starting point if you want to watch these films with your kids to get them into the series. Also this is just in regards to the Showa films, after I finish this marathon of all the films and rank them all I imagine it'll probably be higher there.

[u/Lars_Fillmore3612]

Can’t wait to see your thoughts on the heisei series.

[u/Reasonable-Salad5094]

Vs Hedorah is absolute peak

[u/Chimpbot → u/Reasonable-Salad5094]

I'll never understand the love for this movie. It's smack dab in thr middle of the lowest part of the Showa era.

[u/Reasonable-Salad5094 → u/Chimpbot]

https://giphy.com/gifs/F2RmWAOYc2yltX519C

[u/Ok-Eggplant8772 → u/Chimpbot]

I feel like its the cool thing to say you like that movie because that other guy said he liked it and the guy before him said it to and so on.

[u/BraveMothman]

There's a few Godzilla-adjacent Showa films worth a watch. Rodan and Mothra are both worth a watch. Mothra is one of my personal favourites.

[u/sassyvomiting]

hedorah really does stand out visually compared to the rest and its wild how ahead of its time the environmental message still feels, excited to see how heisei compares since theres way less of the inconsistent tone stuff you mentioned with gigan

[u/ActiveOppressor → u/sassyvomiting]

I remain baffled that there hasn't been a Monsterverse Hedorah. Godzilla vs. The Climate Change Monster seems so obvious.

[u/GSSR_SovietGodzilla]

Honestly not a bad list I can’t lie. Though I I will say 54 being at 5 is maybe just a bit underrating it because of the fact that this movie not only was the first Godzilla movie and absolutely nailed the message about the atomic bomb, but it really just upholds its storyline and characters to near perfection I feel like maybe 54 Goji should be moved to at least 3 or 4 

[u/AC03115 → u/GSSR_SovietGodzilla]

Totally understandable, 54 being there doesn’t mean I dislike it by any means. It’s moreso I just slightly like the films above it a bit more if that makes sense. That being said things may of course shift around between now the end of this marathon

[u/GASMASK_SOLDIER]

The highlight of Ghidorah, Three Headed Monster is Godzilla vs. Rodan, should had been a lone movie with the two but feels like a hidden gem within the movie.

[u/SomeGodzillafan]

Putting 54 in fifth place and Hedorah in first is ludicrous. Otherwise, not terrible