Godzilla Films from the 1990s to the Present: Rankings?

Hi all. I have been enjoying revisiting the Godzilla series and have just seen GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA (2002). I was intrigued by the plot of this--a woman fighter pilot, traumatized by Godzilla's previous destructive appearances, now mans the Mechagodzilla machine to battle against Godzilla. But somehow the film didnt work that well for me, despite the feminist angle and the elaborate fight scenes. I do, however, think there are some good "evil Godzilla" moments. Also the score was kind of lackluster.

So, I am hoping to get some feedback on what Gojira fans consider to be the best of the more recent Godzilla films. Thanks in advance.

 

I really liked the Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah from 1991 and GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack from 2001.

 

These are my absolute favorites from that era in order of preference.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
Godzilla 2000: Millennium
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II
Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla 2002
Godzilla: Final Wars 2004

Stinkers:
Godzilla vs. Mothra 1992 (not too bad just a little boring)
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

I am a huge Godzilla fan. I own 22 Godzilla movies on DVD and the ones from the 90s and beyond are my favorites. I grew up watching Godzilla in the 60s as a kid and only began watching the more recent movies within the last 10 years.

 

Space Therapist, thanks. But I thought Godzilla: Final Wars 2004 was supposed to be the best of the bunch?

 

yeah, i pretty much agree with your list. GMK is the best of the Millennium films IMO. Final Wars isn't a bad film. its actually a really good action movie.

 

Final Wars was a Godzilla movie I took an instant dislike to but it grew on me after a while.

The Godzilla movies of the 90s and early 00s were more serious in tone and theme but Final Wars is more of remake of Destroy All Monsters and it is a little more campy and Cheesy than the more recent Godzilla movies.

It does have some epic Monster battles and weird mutants and aliens. They threw everything in this movie.

 

Having gotten used to the more serious Godzilla movies Final Wars was a bit of a shock to my system. Once I realized that this movie was more of an homage to the franchise itself and it had all the elements that had made the franchise so successful (giant monster battles, aliens and other strange human characters) I could enjoy the movie for what it was.

 

Watched the 1960s "Astro-Monster/Monster Zero" again today (first time in a while). I love all of the space-alien stuff, Planet X, and also the "space monster" aspects of Ghidorah. But I really, really wish they hadnt made Godzilla so silly. Jumping up and down laughing as he scores points of off Ghidorah. It got worse for the series after this.

 

For me it's kinda problematic to make the cut at 1990, since the films from "vs. King Ghidorah" to "vs. Destoroyah" are part of the Heisei series, of which the first to films were from the 80s. Especially "vs. Biollante" is hard to take out of it, since that's when Miki Saegusa, the only human character recurring in all following installments of the Heisei series, first appeared.

But, alas, I shall try. Here's my rundown from top (best) to bottom (worst):

1. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters all-out Attack
2. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
3. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
4. Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS
5. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
6. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
7. Godzilla: Final Wars
8. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla
9. Godzilla vs. Mothra
10. Godzilla 2000 Millennium
11. Godzilla vs. Space-Godzilla

 

Kai, I would love to hear more. Could you expand the list to include the 80s films, then?

 

^ Easily, since there were only two Godzilla films in the 80s.
On the other hand, I'd actually like to do three lists, one per era. As most Godzilla fans know, there were three eras or series of Godzilla movies, the first spanning from the first movie from 1954 until 1975, mostly referred to as the Showa series, after which there was a break lasting nine years (during which there were several attempts to revive the series, and also during this break came the Hannah-Barbera cartoon series as well as the Marvel Comics series).
Then, starting 1984, the Heisei series lasted until 1995, when the production company expected the Hollywood version to start its own series of movies the Japanese would not be able to compete against.
When the Emmerich movie failed, Toho started the millennium series starting 1999 and ending in 2004.

And now here are Kai's lists of the best Godzilla movies:

Showa
1. Godzilla (1954, preferredly the Japanese version)
2. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
3. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964
4. Ghidorah, the three-headed Monster (1964)
5. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
6. Destroy all Monsters (1968)
7. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), although the movie is considered by many people to be amongst the worst movies ever made, I still like it and find it to be a good and enjoyable movie.
8. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)
9. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
10. Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (1966)
11. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
12. Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
13. Son of Godzilla (1967)
14. Godzilla raids again (1955)
15. Godzilla's Revenge (1969)

Heisei
1. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1996)
2. Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
3. Return of Godzilla (1984, but only the Japanese version, I find the Americanized version almost unwatchable)
4. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
5. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
6. Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
7. Godzilla vs. Space-Godzilla (1994)

Millennium:
1. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters all-out Attack (2001)
2. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
3. Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003)
4. Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
5. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002)
6. Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)*

*I did not yet see the American theatrical version. It might actually be better, since the Japanese version is moving in a very slow pace and the edit could have changed that.

 

i love Godzilla VS Hedorah. it has a lot of different quirky things going for it. IMO the worst of the Showa era is Godzilla's Revenge and Son of Godzilla. i hate those two. Terror of MechaGodzilla is my favorite of the Showa era.

 

I seemed to have liked Godzilla 2000 Millennium more than you but I have found many people find Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters all-out Attack as the best of the newer crop of Godzilla movies.

 

Although it's too old to cover any of the films from the '00s, and only judging from his two commentary tracks on the recent Criterion release of Godzilla (I haven't read the book), David Kalat's book, A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series, might be a good place to look if you haven't already.

EDIT: Apparently there's a new, 2010 edition. Definitely looks like a good place to start.

 

Thanks for the tip, I will have to look into that.

 

That's my favourite Godzilla movie by far. I like weird.
Destroy All Monsters & Godzilla: Final Wars rounds out my top 3.

 

Godzilla: Final Wars is one of my favorites. I know many fans hate that one and I am on a message board where if you say you like that movie the trolls come out of the woodwork.

 

I can understand why- it was a throwback to Showa. But that's why I love it.
Just saw Godzilla Vs. Gigan yesterday for the first time (Japanese version), and while not a classic, I did have a lot of fun with it.
I also just ordered Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah- the time travel story sounded pretty outlandish, so I thought I'd like it.

 

Okay, here's my approximate ranking of both Heisei and Millennium films, excluding 1984's The Return of Godzilla since I haven't seen it.

1. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (Heisei): One of the most thoughtful, philosophical films in the series, with good character work, good action, and great music.

2. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-out Attack (Millennium): Also known as GMK. Another film with a strong philosophical bent, and the darkest, most powerfully anti-war Godzilla film since the 1954 original. Pretty bad Godzilla costume, though.

3. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (H): Climax of the Heisei series and in many ways a direct sequel to the original, even bringing back one of its stars and introducing a monster with its origin in the events of the original.

4. Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (H): Largely a pseudo-remake of the first two Mothra films, but pretty entertaining, though its environmental message could not be more heavyhanded.

5. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (M): An interesting alternate continuity with some clever worldbuilding, an effective new monster, and the most badass heroine in the franchise.

6. Godzilla 2000: Millennium (M): Not bad, with good production values, but disappointingly routine and nondescript for what was supposed to be a brand-new universe and the debut of the Millennium series. It's also the only Japanese Godzilla screen continuity where it's unclear whether the 1954 film is even part of its backstory.

7. Godzilla vs. Biollante (H): An ambitious but highly flawed film with too many plot threads that don't come together -- including a title monster that is essentially extraneous to the plot of the film -- but with some really good ideas and moments here and there, like an attempt to examine how Godzilla's existence would affect the world and to explore some ethical questions about scientific responsibility that echo the original film.

8. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (M): A mediocre attempt to revive elements of the original Showa continuity, with a very pretty leading lady but cheap-looking production values and a weak climax designed to leave room for a sequel.

9. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (M): The aforementioned sequel, as well as another Mothra semi-remake; about on a par with the previous but with the cast inexplicably replaced.

10. Godzilla: Final Wars (M): A noisy, cluttered mess -- not so much a Godzilla movie as "The Power Rangers enter the Matrix on Independence Day, guest-starring Godzilla." Aggressively stupid and hyperactive, but some of it is ridiculous fun, such as the over-the-top scenery-chewing villain and the deadpan tough-guy American captain who sounds like Scruffy from Futurama.

11. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (H): A revised origin story for Godzilla, but it features an incoherent time-travel plot, as well as being a disturbingly jingoistic movie that glorifies the WWII Imperial Japanese military, putting it at odds with the politics of other films in the franchise, especially GMK. Also, the WWII-veteran characters barely seem any older in the 1990s portions than in the 1945 portions.

12. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (H): The dumbest Godzilla film since the '70s, with simplistic characterization, too many subplots that are unnecessary or fizzle out unresolved, and middling-to-horrible effects. Coming after the superlative Mechagodzilla II makes it an even more profound disappointment. Its one virtue is that it's barely referenced in the following (final) Heisei film and can be easily skipped without losing anything.

 

Far and away the two best films since the end of the original series are GMK (2001) and Godzilla (1984). Shusuke Kaneko, who directed the former (as well as the excellent Gamera trilogy made around the same time) is easily the best director in terms of sheer film making since Ishiro Honda retired from the series. His movies make most of the Heisei series look downright amateurish by comparison, and I can't say I'm fond of the "showers of sparks and nonstop beam-weapon battles" look of the special effects in that series either.

I forget who directed the '84 Godzilla and am too tired to look it up, but I know he only did one other film and it wasn't a Godzilla. Which is too bad, because his one entry in the series is really quite good - very serious, straightforward in its narrative and with a thoughtful, though very dated, opinion on the state of the world in the mid 1980s. Unfortunately it's hard to get a copy of the film outside of Japan, and its Americanization "Godzilla 1985" basically ruins much of what works in the movie.

After that, quality quickly trails off. I like most of "Godzilla vs. Mothra" ('92), but the climax is underwhelming. The human characters stand around and Mothra shoots beam weapons out of her antennae. Boring.

"Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" has an excellent second half, after King Ghidorah actually shows up. The World War II scenes in the first half are painfully inept and the time travel nonsense doesn't even pretend to make sense.

"Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla" has a pretty good first half. The second half has waaaay too much back and forth beam weapons and showers of sparks, and making Miki Saegusa a protagonist was not a good idea.

"Godzilla vs. Destroyah" has its heart in the right place, but the story goes in a dozen different directions (like Biollante before it) and it feels way too scatter shot as a result. Godzilla's death (spoilers?) was handled well though.

"Godzilla vs. MegaGuirus" used to be a favorite of mine. And I still think it does "comic book" Godzilla better than most. It's a very silly film. Giant dragonflies, shooting blackholes, etc. I don't know, I think it suffers from borrowing too much from the Gamera trilogy in really obvious ways. It pales by comparison.

I don't have strong opinions on the rest. Except for "Godzilla Final Wars", which is just ADD-fueled mayhem that made me honestly cringe as I watched it. It's the worst, by far. At least "SpaceGodzilla" had some fun moments in its finale.