How I spent my Xmas vacation: viewing every last Showa Godzilla !

Son of Godzilla:

Another first time watch for me, and goofier than Ebirah. Multiple fights against no-name kaiju-ized mantises and spiders are notable in that Godzilla has no need to preserve them for future sequels.

Sadly, Minilla will return.

Destroy All Monsters

Even Minilla can't ruin this all-star brawl that carries one of the best human-scale subplots in the series. The best 60s Godzilla film.

All Monsters Attack

Minilla's front and center in this most Gamera-adjacent of Godzilla films. Maybe the least essential in the series.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah

After a hit or miss late 60s, GvH moves the genre forward with cutaway animation, innovative kaiju design, and night battles. And no Minilla to be found.

Godzilla vs. Gigan

I last saw this in the theater as a child, and while the cockroach aliens are far less creepy now, the 70s films continue to improve. Anguirius gets a hero turn in the Gigan/Ghidorah tag-team match that also teases the Mechagodzilla. Plus the big G gets a few lines of intelligible, manga-balloon speech.

Godzilla vs. Megalon

Goes Gigan one better with a roach rematch and a Godzilla-Ultraman teamup.

Follow

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

Threepeats are hard! After two improvements on the strong Hedorah film, Fukuda falters just enough to miss on the surefire Mechagodzilla concept. The reveal fight is good, the car is awesome, but 12 years in, the latter Showa tone is starting to wear thin.

The Terror of Mechagodzilla

The latter Showa films underwhelm with a titular kaiju's introduction, but then slay the following film. No so much here, where a guileless Mechagodzilla just goes through the motions.

As is director Honda, who's been on a slide since the stellar Destroy All Monsters 7 years before. A middling exit to Godzilla's salad days.

Sign in to participate in the conversation

CounterSocial is the first Social Network Platform to take a zero-tolerance stance to hostile nations, bot accounts and trolls who are weaponizing OUR social media platforms and freedoms to engage in influence operations against us. And we're here to counter it.