All 15 Godzilla Movies From the Shōwa Era Ranked

One of my joys growing up was the Godzilla franchise. Back then, they were pretty far from the easiest films to find on VHS, but the thrill was in the hunt (a hunt which got ever so slightly easier for a few months in 1998 when Roland Emmerich’s film came out). That aforementioned hunt was especially tough when it came to Godzilla Raids Again and Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (aka Godzilla vs. Hedorah). When my parents were upset with me, they would take those VHS tapes and put them in the attic. Cut to 20-plus years later and all but one of them is available on HBO Max, easily accessible. And there are still quite a few of them (from both the Shōwa and Heisei eras) of these now accessible movies that still hold an immense amount of charm.

Today the goal is to go through all 15 of these movies, released between the years 1954 and 1975, and figure out how they all compare to one another. If you’re a G-fan, you can probably guess the best and you can probably guess the worst. But how about what comes between them?

15) All Monsters Attack

This stock footage parade is universally deemed the nadir of the Shōwa era for good reason. It’s by far the most kiddie-aimed of the entire franchise and what good footage there is comes from other, better movies. Worse yet, all of the new footage is entirely unwatchable. This makes Son of Godzilla look like a classic of Kaiju cinema.

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14) Godzilla Raids Again

Godzilla Raids Again was a rush job and that’s exactly how it feels. Points to the unrequited love angle introduced for one character in the third act, but even that interesting element reveals a flaw. Everything interesting in Godzilla Raids Again is glossed over. It spends most of its time with chunky-dialogue-stuffed, overly long scenes and what is undoubtedly the worst Kaiju fight in the history of the franchise.

Granted, this was only the second film, but they could have done better than having Godzilla and Anguirus stand near each other and flail around. There’s some charm here because it is the only black and white film besides Gojira and thusly feels the closest to Gojira, but overall it’s a huge mess.

13) Godzilla vs. Megalon

Thanks to Mystery Science Theater 3000, Godzilla vs. Megalon was the first G-film many fans (and non-fans alike) saw. But if someone saw that Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode and didn’t bother with the rest of the franchise, it would be fully understandable.

Even without robots talking throughout, making fun of it, Godzilla vs. Megalon is entirely too silly. There’s a white guy underground yelling the name “Megalon” with pounds of chest hair bulging out of a cheap costume, there’s an uninteresting plot, and there’s a big humanoid robot doing karate moves. Even as a kid I didn’t revisit this one much.

12) Son of Godzilla

Son of Godzilla was the second of three jungle-themed Godzilla movies. The first was Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, then this, then All Monsters Attack. Unfortunately, Son of Godzilla skews more All Monsters Attack than Ebirah.

It was the first time the franchise actively tried to appeal to kids over adults, and while it’s not too much like All Monsters Attack, it’s still a little cringeworthy at times. Furthermore, the scientists and their weather-controlling system is a bit too dull to retain kids’ interest, so it’s really not even all that effective a kids’ movie. But, hey, at least Kimacuras and Kumonga are kind of neat.

11) Destroy All Monsters

If there’s an overrated entry in Godzilla’s Shōwa era it is undoubtedly Destroy All Monsters. As the above poster indicates, it promises to be an all-out monster mash and, to a very slight degree, it is. The issue is that it feels very been-there-done-that. For one, you have 10 monsters that team up to face one adversary, which is King Ghidorah. By this point in time, we had already seen Ghidorah twice, first in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and then in Invasion of Astro-Monster.

His first appearance had him face three monsters (Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan) and lose. The second time had him face just Godzilla and Rodan, and he lost. So, to have him face almost every single Toho monster at once? It doesn’t feel like there are any stakes. The alien invasion plot also feels played out, given how it was done better in Astro-Monster and would be done better once more in Godzilla vs. Gigan three movies later.

10) Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Hedorah needs to be included in the Monsterverse at some point, because he’s too compelling to be a one-off (save for his cameo in Godzilla: Final Wars). He’s also a monster that’s just as relevant today as he was in the ’70s.

All due credit to Godzilla vs. Hedorah, because it really did throw some curveballs at the audience to keep them interested in the IP after the failure of All Monsters Attack. There are some truly bizarre, trippy scenes in this thing. And, while the human characters are both uninteresting and make some baffling decisions (who throws a party on the top of a mountain where Hedorah is expected to show up?), there’s also some fun monster action.

9) Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Just as Destroy All Monsters is the Shōwa era’s overrated entry, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep is its underrated entry. It gets lumped in with the inferior Son of Godzilla and All Monsters Attack more often than not thanks to the island vibes.

But it’s a film that’s far easier to take seriously. It’s about enslavement, after all. Not to mention, Ebirah is a well-designed monster. Sure, having Godzilla take on a big lobster was a step down in the stakes department from a three-headed, electricity-spewing space dragon, but he works.

8) Terror of Mechagodzilla

Titanosaurus is a somewhat underrated Toho Kaiju but Terror of Mechagodzilla is nonetheless a step down from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. However, it did actually show Mechagodzilla attack Tokyo, which the previous film did not.

But it can’t help feeling redundant. Recycling King Ghidorah has worked, but recycling Mechagodzilla literally one film later feels like overkill and as a whole the movie was an average way to end the era.

7) Godzilla vs. Gigan

Godzilla vs. Gigan catches some flack for being completely bizarre. But, come on, if any franchise could pull off cockroach aliens opening a Kaiju-themed amusement park it’s Godzilla. This is also the movie that introduced Gigan. The cyborg bird with a chainsaw for a belly is one of the most inventive Kaiju designs out there, and like Mechagodzilla two movies later, he feels like a genuine threat to Godzilla.

6) Invasion of Astro-Monster

Invasion of Astro-Monster manages to avoid the problem suffered by Terror of Mechagodzilla. It repeats the antagonist from the previous film, but the plotline is one hundred percent different. In fact, the plotline here about some goofily dressed aliens promising a cure for cancer only to predictably double-cross humanity is better than the amnesiac prophet angle of the previous film. But the previous film also had a better final fight between the monsters.

That said, like how the previous movie (the previous few movies, really) had some great monster introduction scenes, so too does this one, when the aliens use their ships to grab Rodan and Godzilla from, respectively, a mountain and a lake.

5) King Kong vs. Godzilla

There are two very different versions of King Kong vs. Godzilla but, despite the long-existing rumor of two different victors in the conflict, there’s only one. Either version is worth watching, but the Japanese version is (as one might expect) better.

This is still the Godzilla franchise figuring itself out and, in comparison to Godzilla Raids Again, it’s far closer to a homerun. It’s also the funniest installment of the era. Even still, Mothra vs. Godzilla was the one that really set the franchise in stone as an all-timer that had a lot more room for expansion.

4) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was the last excellent film of the Shōwa era. The mystery surrounding the aliens is fun to watch the protagonists unravel, Mechagodzilla has a great design, and he (or rather it) feels like the greatest threat Godzilla ever faced. Godzilla nearly dies when he first faces his counterpart.

Speaking of his counterpart, having Mechagodzilla pass himself off as Godzilla at first works quite well. Not to mention, seeing him break Anguirus jaw (resulting in bubbling blood, rare for the franchise) is heartbreaking. Mechagodzilla could have used some more screentime and King Caesar is absurd but, overall, it’s very solid stuff.

3) Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

King Ghidorah is easily one of the best Toho Kaiju not named Godzilla and his introduction in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is an all-timer of a Shōwa era scene (Rodan’s is pretty terrific, too). Is the amnesia/spy movie plot a little goofy? Sure, but in the best way possible.

Better yet, Ghidorah has one of the entire Godzilla franchise’s best monster on monster (on monster on monster) fights. It’s also an important entry of the franchise. Here we saw Godzilla flip from antagonist to protagonist…the big fella got a character arc (though, thankfully, he was rarely as silly as Gamera).

2) Mothra vs. Godzilla

On one hand, Mothra vs. Godzilla is just a great monster movie, but the Kaiju aren’t the worst monsters of them all. That would be the greedy pair of industrial tycoons, and the protagonists’ fight against them captivates the audience’s interest even before Godzilla raises himself from Kurata beach (the best monster introduction of the entire franchise).

Furthermore, this is the best Godzilla design to date and the fights against adult Mothra and the two Mothra larva are phenomenal. Were it not for the original, this would be the best of the Shōwa era.

1) Godzilla

Note the usage of the title Gojira, because the original version of this film is the one true version of this film. All due respect to Raymond Burr, but his scenes in Godzilla: King of the Monsters are entirely pointless.

Without them, the viewer gets a full sense of how well-paced and sometimes utterly grim Ishirō Honda’s nuclear war allegory is. The first Godzilla is the best Godzilla, and it will never be beaten.

All of the Shōwa era is available to stream on HBO Max with the exception of King Kong vs. Godzilla. However, that film is included in the Criterion Collection box set.