Godzilla franchise?
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Cow Mengde
Banned
The only ones you should watch chronologically are the movies from Godzilla 1985 - Godzilla Vs Destroyah since those are kind of a series, but even then you don't have to worry too much about being lost. The best movies in this series has to be Godzilla Vs Biollante (excellent movie overall) and Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah (dumb fun).
For the old classics, the ORIGINAL Gojira (not Godzilla King of the Monsters) is a must watch classic. It's out on DVD. Godzilla Vs Mothra (aka Godzilla Vs The Thing) is another great VS classic. Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster in another good one. Gigantis The Fire Monster is another good one. All of the movies here are classics with the original being one of the greatest monster movies ever made.
For the post 2000 movies, I recommend Godzilla Giant Monsters All Out Attack. Easily the best of the post 2000 movies. I personally loved the hell out of Godzilla Vs Megagurius, but many don't like it. It's dumb fun IMO.
For the old classics, the ORIGINAL Gojira (not Godzilla King of the Monsters) is a must watch classic. It's out on DVD. Godzilla Vs Mothra (aka Godzilla Vs The Thing) is another great VS classic. Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster in another good one. Gigantis The Fire Monster is another good one. All of the movies here are classics with the original being one of the greatest monster movies ever made.
For the post 2000 movies, I recommend Godzilla Giant Monsters All Out Attack. Easily the best of the post 2000 movies. I personally loved the hell out of Godzilla Vs Megagurius, but many don't like it. It's dumb fun IMO.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Original Gojira is a total classic, but don't expect anything campy. It's a serious drama with horror.
Probably best to watch that first before diving into its campy successors.
Watch them all in order. The series is pure fanservice at this point, and watching the originals makes you appreciate how far things have come up to now.
The first 5-6 are all decent. Then it went into a campy crap in the later '60s- and 70s which aren't nearly as good, but still worth watching.
All of the more modern ones are pretty good. From Godzilla 85 onward, they are pretty much all good. I disagree with the poster above, though - I thought Giant Monsters All Out Attack was by far the worst one (it is totally different from the other modern films - tonally, visually, story wise) and just not very good.
The first 5-6 are all decent. Then it went into a campy crap in the later '60s- and 70s which aren't nearly as good, but still worth watching.
All of the more modern ones are pretty good. From Godzilla 85 onward, they are pretty much all good. I disagree with the poster above, though - I thought Giant Monsters All Out Attack was by far the worst one (it is totally different from the other modern films - tonally, visually, story wise) and just not very good.
Fpr the Showa series (the first group of Godzilla movies), watch Gojira (not Godzilla: King of the Monsters) through Mothra vs. Godzilla for the original "serious" Godzilla movies, although obviously it starts to get a bit sillier after the monster fighting is introduced. Gojira is a classic and the others are pretty good, and King Kong vs. Godzilla is just fun. Godzilla Raids Again is oft forgotten but pretty good I think. MAYBE throw in Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster (the fifth movie) afterwards just to see the direction the franchise started going in, and because it's Ghidorah. If you want to watch the goofy campy Godzilla movies, they start here.
Then skip ahead to Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla just because it's practically required watching.
For the Heisei series (the second Godzilla series, ignores everything after the original Gojira and picks up from there), start with The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante, maybe Godzilla vs. King Ghidora, but the others can be skipped. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah perhaps as well because it's an important point in the franchise.
Skip the American Godzilla. Not a bad monster movie but it's not Godzilla.
For the Millennium series, just watch Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, which is BY FAR the best Godzilla movie since the original. None of the other Millennium movies compare, so don't bother.
Then skip ahead to Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla just because it's practically required watching.
For the Heisei series (the second Godzilla series, ignores everything after the original Gojira and picks up from there), start with The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante, maybe Godzilla vs. King Ghidora, but the others can be skipped. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah perhaps as well because it's an important point in the franchise.
Skip the American Godzilla. Not a bad monster movie but it's not Godzilla.
For the Millennium series, just watch Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, which is BY FAR the best Godzilla movie since the original. None of the other Millennium movies compare, so don't bother.
shira
Member
Can you really watch a guy in a rubber dino suit?
yn-neko hates a cat
Banned
n/m
Gojira is the Japanese name. Godzilla is the Americanization of it.
dark_chris
Member
You MUST start with this one. Thats how I started.
This makes me lol.
Definitely watch the original, Japanese version. It's a legitimately great movie and is so dark. It got really wacky in the 60s and 70s, though. Monster Zero is terrible. I hated it so much. It is unbearably boring.
Must sees to me are the original, Mothra vs Godzilla, Godzilla vs Hedorah, Terror of MechaGodzilla, all of the Heisei series. I've only seen Godzilla 2000 from the Millennium series and I thought it was terrible.
Rated-Rsuperstar
Member
I remember in the 90's saving up my money and having my parents drive down to the Golden ring mall in Hunt Valley, Maryland just so I could buy one of the heisei movies at Suncoast video. They were the only place to sell them back then. And because we didn't have the internet, the boxart was always my first introduction to whatever new monster toho had cooked up. I'd just sit there on the car ride home starring at the box trying to conjure up all the awesome destruction scenes.
Setre
Member
Been a while since I've seen any Godzilla movie, last one was Final Wars when that come out on DVD. I watched the Gojira DVD while back and it was my first time seeing it, was alright, I prefer my big green fire breathing monster silly and awesome. Which brings me to my recommendation:
Godzilla vs Gigan
Again been a while since I've seen it but it was my favorite as a kid. Godzilla and Anguirus are total bros in this movie, plus they talk! Fucking awesome. Terror of MechaGodzilla is another really good one, Mecha is such an asshole. And check out King Kong vs. Godzilla, fuck the haters btw, Godzilla tore that apes ass up.
Godzilla vs Gigan
Again been a while since I've seen it but it was my favorite as a kid. Godzilla and Anguirus are total bros in this movie, plus they talk! Fucking awesome. Terror of MechaGodzilla is another really good one, Mecha is such an asshole. And check out King Kong vs. Godzilla, fuck the haters btw, Godzilla tore that apes ass up.
Prince of Space
Banned
First post is best post. Rewatching Biollante now on Blu-ray; it's still one of my favorites.
As everyone's already mentioned, start with the original, and check out the original series in any order you like -- vs. Hedorah/the Smog Monster, vs. Gigan, vs. the Sea Monster, vs. Monster Zero, and vs. Mechagodzilla are my "must watch" recommendations. Watch the full Heisei series in order if you can manage it; no idea how easily available some of those are, I've still got those old 90s VHS tapes of them. I'm pretty sure they're on DVD though...
I didn't much care for the Millennium series outside of 2000, GMK, and Final Wars. Whichever of these films you decide to watch, make sure Final Wars is the last Godzilla movie you watch. It was the last one produced by Toho, and is a pretty great love letter to the series as a whole.
fallengorn
Bitches love smiley faces
Cow Mengde is pretty spot on.
Some more recommendations... Destroy All Monsters is a definite classic. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is my personal favorite from the Heisei ('80s-'90s) series. Soundtrack is phenomenal.
The Millenium ('00) series is a mixed bag. GMK is the stand-out movie. If you end up enjoying the campier movies, maybe follow it all up with Godzilla: Final Wars, which is a throwback to the earlier movies, before the 80s revival.
Some more recommendations... Destroy All Monsters is a definite classic. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is my personal favorite from the Heisei ('80s-'90s) series. Soundtrack is phenomenal.
The Millenium ('00) series is a mixed bag. GMK is the stand-out movie. If you end up enjoying the campier movies, maybe follow it all up with Godzilla: Final Wars, which is a throwback to the earlier movies, before the 80s revival.
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