Godzilla Guide (1954-1968)

During one winter break in college, I became absolutely obsessed with Godzilla. I watched as many movies as I could over the break and Godzilla quickly became a very important figure in my heart… Although I absolutely love Godzilla, it can be difficult to recommend because there’s just so many movies and it's hard to know which ones are important. I decided to make a quick guide for any potential G-Fans (Godzilla Fans) out there! What's "important" to the Godzilla series mostly comes down to personal preference, so I'll provide some basic info and my brief thoughts on each movie so you can make your own decisions. In this post I'll be going over the first half of the Shōwa era Godzilla movies.

NOTE: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) will not be appearing on this list because I haven’t seen it, I don’t like King Kong.

Some General Info

For the most part, Godzilla films tend to have two sections: the human plot and the monster plot. Ideally, the monster plot and the human plot are closely related but this isn’t always the case. For my little mini reviews, I'll be trying to keep them as short and spoiler-free as possible... no in-depth analysis here. I’ll be looking at how successful each plotline is individually and I’ll give some bonus points if both plotlines work well together. I’ll note when a monster makes their debut and what kind of monster battles you'll get in each film. Lastly, I'll mention any standout human characters and/or directorial choices if there happens to be any. There isn’t an ongoing plot throughout the series, so you can pick and choose which movies interest you and still get the full story for the most part!  Movies that are my personal favorite will have a rainbow heart!



Obviously this is THE Godzilla movie, even if you don’t watch any other Godzilla movies you should still watch this one. It really does feel timeless!

This is the second installment in the Godzilla series, released just a year after the first movie.The plot is very thin, it’s obviously trying to cash in on the success of the first film but it doesn’t have any of the emotional depth of the first movie. The one high point of this movie is the fight with a new monster named Anguirus. This is our first Kaiju vs. Kaiju fight and it’s great, but there’s better fights later in the series. Anguirus appears again in later movies, but his role is completely disconnected from this movie. Overall, I'd just skip this one.

Okay, this one doesn’t actually have Godzilla in it but I think it’s worth mentioning here since Mothra will become a recurring friend. It’s not essential, but it gives you some backstory about Infant Island (Mothra’s home) and her interpreters, the Shobijin. The human plot isn’t anything special, but we do get a pretty fun protagonist for this one.  

This one is AMAZING! The best Godzilla sequels are the ones that find a way to expand on some of the themes found in the original while also including new monsters and such. The monster and human plotlines are well connected, and the monster fights are really dynamic too! Best of all, there’s MOTHRA!!!

This is another great one. The human plot is kind of insane and doesn’t have the same depth as Mothra vs. Godzilla, but that doesn’t bring the movie down too much. Where this movie really shines is in the monster plot. This is the point in the series where Godzilla starts to make a face-turn towards being a hero while King Ghidorah becomes our main villain. In addition to this, Mothra and Rodan are here to help as well! Rodan actually had his own feature film back in 1956, but that’s not really important.

Okay, this one is a bit controversial in the Godzilla canon because it’s where things really start to go off the rails. This movie revolves around the “Xiliens,” who are the people from Planet X. It’s one of the rare cases where I think the human storyline is probably more engaging than what the monsters have going on, the primary conflict is between the humans and the Xiliens after all. The two lead actors are charming and the art direction is so colorful and fun, especially when it comes to the Xiliens. The monster fights are still great, we get Rodan and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, but the set up for them is just so contrived and silly. It’s all VERY campy which I really love, but some people might not be as charmed by its weirdness. 

This is another fun one, it’s basically a Godzilla beach episode. I think this movie was trying to get in on the beach party trend that was popular in the 60s. The human plotline probably has some of the lowest stakes when compared to the rest of the series, but it works fine enough. Godzilla doesn’t have much to do here, he spends about the first half just taking a nap. It’s too bad because Ebirah is a really great monster and I’d like to have seen more fights between them. It’s also worth mentioning that this movie features the ICONIC Giant Condor, who we never see again but lives forever in my heart. 

This movie is one of the main reasons I felt like I needed to write my own list. There are MANY people out there who will say that Minilla (little Godzilla) is stupid and ugly, these people have hate in their heart. I understand that the actual monster action isn’t that impressive. Our main monster villains here are the Kamacuras (giant praying mantis) and Kumonga (a giant spider). They're definitely not as impressive as King Ghidorah or even Ebirah, but they're really a threat for Minilla more than Godzilla. Really this movie isn't about fighting anyways, it's about Godzilla's journey in becoming a dad that steps up and it’s wonderful. I’m weak when it comes to stories about fatherhood, so the ending makes me tear up every time. The human plotline isn’t as compelling to me as the monster plotline, but it isn’t terrible either. The conflict is thematically relevant for a Godzilla film and we have some really good characters here as well, especially the female lead!

This was originally supposed to be the last Godzilla movie (obviously it wasn’t). It has all the traits of a big finale though, we get as many monsters as possible in this movie and it’s amazing. The human plot is pretty weak here though, it’s another alien invasion/mind control story. Instead of the Xiliens from Astro-Monster, we have the Kilaaks who just aren’t as fun. Unfortunately this drags down the pacing of the movie a bit, but honestly It doesn’t really matter too much because it’s all about the monsters in this one. 



I was going to put all of the Shōwa movies in one blog post, but this is going on pretty long and there’s still 6 more movies left to talk about. So, just like the Godzilla series I’ll just end here with Destroy All Monsters and then unceremoniously pick things back up about a month.