01. Godzilla (1954)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
NOTE: for simplicity's sake I've used English language titles for each of my Godzilla reviews, but it's always the original Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.
The creature responsible for the inhuman roar — the monarch of kaijū eiga — is a force to be reckoned with, for sure, and is more than just an excuse to have a guy in a rubber suit trash tiny models. You don't need to be a history scholar to pick out the many wartime parallels: nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, irradiated wells, air raid sirens, and footfalls that sound like distant bombs impacting and exploding are all highlighted.
Shot in dramatic black and white, the film is cleverly constructed so that even when forced to take the role of the aggressor, the Japanese people don't cease being victims and their underlying nobility remains largely untarnished, which is a feeling that's conceptualised wonderfully in the film's mood-filled finale.
All of that, and more, make Godzilla's début both culturally significant and cinematically more interesting than many of the sequels and the dozens of clones that followed over the years.
02. Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
aka Godzilla's Counterattack
Dir. Motoyoshi Oda
It's a different Godzilla, but it doesn't ignore the events of the first film, even bringing back Dr. Kyohei Yamane (Takashi Shimura) for a short scene that helps connect the two.
Overall, it's a more straightforward 'monster versus monster' flick, notable for being the first entry to have Godzilla fighting another giant creature, a prehistoric era quadruped with spiky armour that knows how to wrestle and is similarly H-bomb enhanced.
Because there was no real need to hold back the titular creature's reveal the second time out, Godzilla appears onscreen sooner than it did before, but keen-eyed viewers will notice some differences in the suit. Unfortunately, the creature scenes aren't as dramatically lit as they were before, and the actual monster brawling is subjectively awful much of the time, not helped by some very obvious sped up footage. [1]
The two legs versus four legs dynamic is interesting, and the individual human relationships between the sexes has a simplistic charm, but it's not a great film.
While the first film made reference to the fact that Japan is the only country in history to experience the true horrors of the atomic age, communicating a feeling that only Japanese viewers of the era would be able to fully relate to, Godzilla Raids Again has some universal wartime references in the form of blackouts and public shelters, although I don't think it feels less exclusively Japanese because of that.
[1]There's been almost as many suit variants as there's been films in the franchise's history, quite often in a manner that's reflective of G's changing personality. I won't go into detail about every one of them, but the creature's aesthetic evolution can be a fun study or diversion, if anyone wishes to research it for themselves elsewhere.
03. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
Fans who only want a monster bash will have to wait an hour before the two titans meet, and when it happens it's laughable.
Kong looks idiotic as he beats his tits and throws rocks. Godzilla waves his arms like a kid with limited pocket money funds in a toy shop getting excited over a clearance sale.
I could ignore all of that if the human story was up to scratch, but it isn't.
The second film was a sizable step down from the precedent set by the first one, but KK v G is a giant sized misstep that skipped all rungs on the ladder, plunging the franchise face-palm first into the Pacific Ocean.
04. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
There are two main villains, the angry Godzilla and a greedy businessman (Yoshifumi Tajima), but only one of them gets to wear a rubber suit in public; I'm not going to speculate on what the other one does in his private life.
Many events take place outside of a typical city environment, in an open landscape. It makes the sets more expansive and less claustrophobic, but more importantly the extra room gives Mothra the showcase space that she needs to swoop and fly around.
The battle scenes between the two creatures are frantic and put the Kong scenes to shame.
The plot is pretty simplistic, but the film excels in other ways; e.g., the Godzilla suit design is arguably the best of the entire Shōwa era - while not apparent in the box art that I've chosen to use, up close Godzilla's expression is a mixture of wickedness, hatred, deviousness and sometimes seems oddly judgemental.[2]
Mothra (imago form), on the other hand, is colourful, noble, fights to the bitter end and has her own cool theme song. You won't need to have watched her own solo film, Mothra (1861), prior to viewing, but it does get referenced, to a degree.
There's no doubt that the first film had more socio-political depth, but for pure awesomeness in the Shōwa era I go with Mothra vs. Godzilla. It contains a similar kind of explosive imagination and charm as Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films, but in a very, very culturally Japanese way. And it's notable for being the last Shōwa film in which Godzilla is portrayed outright antagonistic.
[2]I tend to use exact box art of the versions that I own, but on this occasion I went direct to the Japanese market instead. I believe the collection I’ve used is known as Toho Blu-ray Masterpiece Selection, but I could be wrong. Either way, while it doesn't always do the films justice, it's a lot better than Criterion's newly commissioned art for their Shōwa era package.
05. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
Amid a heatwave a storm of meteorites lights up the Japanese night sky, bringing with them the three-headed King of destruction.
The human story involves a group of UFO believers, a visiting Princess (Akiko Wakabayashi), and two siblings (Yosuke Natsuki + Yuriko Hoshi) who each have the same focus but for different reasons. One of those things seems like it'll play a major role, but goes nowhere particularly interesting.
Meanwhile, Godzilla and Rodan go head to head, dragging the franchise into new territory: there are elements of slapstick creeping into the bouts. A single comedy nut-shot is probably okay in the grand scheme of things, but did we need to see a comedy game of keepie-uppie with a rock? Hell, no. The weak combat was bad enough.
If you want to keep track of the other monsters, it's the third outing for Mothra and the second for Rodan who each had their own series. I'll have a post for each of them at some point.
If you want to keep track of the other monsters, it's the third outing for Mothra and the second for Rodan who each had their own series. I'll have a post for each of them at some point.
06. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
aka Monster Zero / Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
Dir. Ishirō Honda
The previous films used elements of science fiction in their scripts (including the role of science in the creation of Godzilla), but none of them went as far or fit the label quite as well as Astro-Monster. It's less of a typical Godzilla film and more like an average mid-sixties science fiction invasion flick with some established rubber-suit guest stars thrown in.
Unfortunately, it also plummets Godzilla further into the realms of dodgy credibility by having the iconic creature do something ridiculous in the name of comedy.
For Rodan fans, Astro is the third outing.
07. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
aka Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
Dir. Jun Fukuda
Having experimented with the terrors of outer space previously, the franchise returns to Earth to explore the horrors of the deep sea.
I'm okay with that because some of the things that dwell beneath the surface of our oceans are more alien looking than many science fiction concepts anyhow.
With regards the story, four guys get washed ashore on an island and flaff around for a while before the bad guys and their James Bond-esque nuclear bomb-making facility is introduced. If that wasn't bad enough, the creature attack is by a giant, cumbersome, unimaginative lobster; i.e., the titular Ebirah.
The slide into the ridiculous is cemented by the addition of some very dodgy music.
Putting the lobster-suited actor in a shallow pool of water was a cheap but effective way to imply scale on a reduced budget. It's not as much fun as seeing model cities being stomped, but the change in environment is worked well into the plot.
For those that care, Ebirah was new but the film was Mothra's fourth onscreen appearance.
08. Son of Godzilla (1967)
Dir. Jun Fukuda
By the time the son appears on the scene all hope for a dramatic turnaround is lost. The child toddles shakily and falls on his ass for cheap laughs. It's utterly woeful.
The subtitles referred to Godzilla as "he" more than once. I don't know if it was translation laziness or not. It's not the first time it had happened, but it begs the question: if Godzilla is male, who was the child's mother? And how in hell did she squeeze that giant egg out of her vagilla?
09. Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
If that wasn't enough to contend with, there's a second threat that may well have had a hand in orchestrating the first. Like the proverbial expression says, it never rains but it pours.
It's a fun movie but some of the lesser seen kaijū are wasted; they're relegated to a spectator role while the usual suspects screech and thump their way to the finale.
It was Rodan's fourth outing; Mothra's fifth.
10. All Monsters Attack (1969)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
For kids in a similar position to Ichiro it's probably a helpful and inspiring work. But for anyone wanting an actual Godzilla movie, what you get is mostly stock footage we've seen before and some abysmal Minilla fights.
What's interesting from an adult perspective is that all the kaijū scenes are imagined by the youth - it's not made explicitly clear if the creatures exist outside of that realm or not. Is it really a Godzilla film? Or is it a film that just happens to feature Godzilla as a plot device?
Either way, unless you're like Ichiro, you may struggle to maintain interest, with the only saving grace being that it's merely 69 minutes long.
11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Dir. Yoshimitsu Banno
All bad jokes aside, it's arguably more upsetting than that. The poison gas that Hedorah exudes kills a lot of people; even the innocent. All it takes to be affected by the personified pollutant is being in an area when Hedorah flies overhead and you're boned.
If it wasn't so weird in other ways the story would be frightening in what in alludes to. Weird how? How about a kaijū toking on smokestacks? Or animated public information style films that are as creepy as they are funny? (Actually, I loved those.) It's not a good film, but it's definitely a peculiar one.
Beyond that, Dir. Banno clearly didn't have the budget he needed to fully realise the story. The model buildings are largely featureless and the entire military presence could fit inside a primary school gym. Oh, and that thing that happened near the end when Godzilla used atomic breath - it didn't happen, as far I'm concerned. I refuse to accept it. Nope. Not a bit.
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Dir. Jun Fukuda
The park's builders are on a quest to bring "absolute peace" to the entire planet, but like any such politically-loaded phrase the exact meaning of the claim is open to interpretation.
A manga creator named Gengo (Hiroshi Ishikawa) stumbles into the evildoers' plot, aided by a duo of resourceful hippies.
Godzilla, meanwhile, is chilling on Monster Island, chatting to one-time foe Anguirus via actual speech bubbles - I shit you not. When they learn that the mainland is threatened, they decide to lend the humans a hand.
As you can see from the box art, it's not a simple one-on-one battle with the cyclopean invader. But before the battle gets underway, the plot pauses in order to deliver a message about the dangers of an over-reliance on technology.
13. Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Dir. Jun Fukuda
The thirteenth movie gets a lot of hate, but not from me. It's utterly terrible, I admit, but it's also strangely fantastic, balancing perfectly on the theoretical line that exists between the two subjective states.
It was originally a tokusatsu robot story that had a friendly-eyed Godzilla added to it, so the robot (imagine Ultraman with an inane grin after sharting himself) gets more screen time than Godzilla. The latter arrives late to the party but brings the smack down.
The tag team wrestle that ends the 70s train wreck is hilarity of the highest and lowest calibre - or maybe just one or the other, depending on your perspective. On a side note, ah, so that's what the heads on Easter Island are for!
The fourteenth film introduced Mechagodzilla to the roster, a mechanical Godzilla with jet-propulsion in its feet and whose fingers are mini-rockets. On paper it sounds like a guaranteed winning formula, and it probably should've been, but the script fails to keep as the focal point what's most important.
14. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Dir. Jun Fukuda
It's all story to begin with: an ancient prophecy and a modern day premonition predict the same event, so we know it's all going to kick off soon. As expected, the heavy plotting is followed by full-on action. But then it stumbles into a listless midsection.
It tries to reassert itself by pushing a secondary character to the fore, turning the whole thing into another James Bond-esque film complete with secret base, elaborate death room and gadgets. It was probably bandwagon jumping, and may even have been undertaken with the best of intentions and respect for the spy genre, but it ruined what was otherwise an okay film with potential up to that point.
15. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Dir. Ishirō Honda
Mechagodzilla wasn't the reason the previous film was bad, so it's only fair that the metallic menace was given another chance first.
Because it's a direct sequel to the previous year's GvM, it once again has Interpol and spacemen. But, worst luck, the script has the opposite problem: it's too darn uneventful.
There's an attempt to add weight through one or more tragic characters. It almost works for the pretty one, but the other never makes it out of pitiable corner, which is unfortunate.
The other big threat, the non-metallic Titanosaurus, although not intrinsically evil in nature, isn't very interesting either. Overall, the lengthy break that followed was a good idea.
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