Ranking the Godzilla Movies

[Nomad]

Kaiju Transmissions has been trying to compile a ranking of all the Godzilla movies using a "preference revealer." There are numerous rounds of voting, each time between two G films, until a final list is formed. This method appeals to me, since I didn't feel any need to justify my picks, and I didn't have to struggle with choosing between several close selections. I did the test quickly, but the results are basically what I would've come up with had I ever thought deeply about making a list. Here's what I got:

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla vs Mothra: Tokyo SOS (2003)
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Return of Godzilla (1984)
Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
Shin Godzilla (2016)
Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla (2014)
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
Monster Zero (1965)
Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for the Earth (1992)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
Godzilla 2000 (1999)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
Godzilla Final Wars (2004)
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966)
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Godzilla (1998)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)

If you're interested, the exercise is here. I'm curious to see if the rankings are what you'd expect.

 

[Christopher]

Those rankings are very different from mine. I like Mothra vs. Godzilla a lot, but I wouldn't say it's better than the original. (And it's really more a Mothra sequel guest-starring Godzilla than a Godzilla movie, to get really technical.) I'd rank the next three on the list as fairly weak ones. And I'm very surprised that Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is the second-lowest Heisei film in the rankings and Megaguirus is the second-lowest Millennium film, since those would probably be my second-highest in their respective series (maybe even highest for the former). I agree with the lowest rankings in all three eras, though (Final Wars for Millennium, Spacegodzilla for Heisei, Revenge for Showa).

Here's what the list generated for me:

Godzilla (1954)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993)
Return of Godzilla (1984)
Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
Shin Godzilla (2016)
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
Godzilla (2014)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
Godzilla (1998)
Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003)
Godzilla 2000 (1999)
Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
Monster Zero (1965)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Godzilla Final Wars (2004)
Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)

I don't think that worked out quite right. It's in the ballpark, but a number of the rankings are a bit out of order compared to what I really think. I'd put GMK one or two places higher, the '92 Mothra a couple of places lower, and I don't think I'd put the original Mechagodzilla quite that low. So maybe there are some bugs in their algorithm.