It’s been a few years since I’ve started looking at
Godzilla titles here and there for the Anime Corner, either as stand alone or
as part of Godzilla Month events. During
much of this time, I’ve been a Godzilla novice, watching and learning more
about the franchise through the mentorship of my good friend and top Godzilla
advisor, JMT-117. And while he’s still
debating a Top 5 Godzilla list of his own for the month, he has helped me with
research and editing the Hail to the King Baby Godzilla Retrospective. So while I wait for him to pontentially add a
new list to the Anime Corner, it’s finally my time to rank my own favorites
within the Godzilla franchise cause by now I’ve seen mostly all of them save
for a couple. So, without further ado, I
present my Top 5 Godzilla Movies (from me this time) on todays Top 5 Wednesday.
This might seem like an odd choice but Godzilla vs.
Hedorah is actually the first Godzilla movie I ever saw on the Scifi Channel as
a kid.
While a lot of the Showa Era
zaniness was lost on me, I’ve never forgotten how scary Hedorah is.
A Giant black blob of trash and pollution
with demonic red eyes, he really is the stuff of nightmares.
He and his movie are a nice entry point for
new fans like I was at the time, showing off the creativity of Godzilla’s
Rogues Gallery and how cool it is to see Godzilla kick all of their asses.
The endings also stuck with me too as
Godzilla seems a bit down seeing all of the polluted waters before he returns
to the ocean.
#4-Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters
All Out Attack
NGL I didn’t like this one when I first saw it but upon
further rewatches, GMK isnt just the best of the Millenium Era films, it’s also
one of the most creative and stand out entries in the entire franchise.
Godzilla may still wreck stuff like he’s
supposed to but his supernatural additions make him scarier than ever.
Plus you’ve got the cool oddity of making
King Ghidorah the good guy for a change and some amazing action set pieces from
the director of the Hesei Gamera Trilogy.
Oh and Barugon, who is the MVP of this film.
Check out the behind the scenes vids of her
suit actress giving the cutest roar and tell me she doesn’t deserve to be
protected at all costs.
#3-Godzilla vs. Destroyah
The epic finale of the Hesei Era of Godzilla pulled out
all of the stops and still stands as one of the Kings finest outings.
I talked about how terrifying Burning
Godzilla is in last weeks Top 5 but it bears repeating how seeing him one the
constant verge of melting down ups the stakes of the film.
And that’s before Destroyah shows up in one
of the most epic reveals ever courtesy of flashy effects and Akira Ifukube’s
thunderous score.
This movie has all the
colossal action you come to expect from Godzilla films but the fact that the
finale can still make you feel genuinely bad for the King of the Monsters still
wows me.
#2-Godzilla Minus One
A heart wrenching tale of survival and hope?
Human characters worth investing time and
energy in?
Award winning special
effects?
HTF did Godzilla Minus One do
so much so right?
Honestly all you need
to do is just rewatch the film and keep asking those same questions and
more…and just really not caring cause the movie is just that damn good.
The return of Godzilla in a period when Japan
was at its lowest and weakest is a stroke of brilliance and seeing the nation
come together to show its resilient spirit is nothing short of
inspiring…especially when it goes up against one of the most chilling and
unrelenting versions of Godzilla ever.
#1-Shin Godzilla
While its just shy of Minus One’s near perfect state, I
still freaking love Shin Godzilla so much I could put it on anyday, watch it
and never get bored.
Like Minus One,
Shin Godzilla reinvents Godzillas origins but this time for the modern
age.
Hideaki Anno brings his Evangelion
magic to handling the action sequences and showing off how huge this demonic
Godzilla truly is.
NGL there’s a lot of
characters and names get lost in the shuffle but I like the human cast quite a
bit, especially Yaguchi and Kyoko (would be too easy to hook them up as a
couple but could you blame anyone?).
Also this is the first Japanese Godzilla film I got to see in theaters
during a special screening and that’s always stuck with me, especially when
Godzilla unleashes his full fury on Tokyo.
It’s both horrifying and awesome, just like Godzilla should be.
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