#7- "All Monsters Attack" or "Godzilla's Revenge" (1969)

Those with knowledge of the Godzilla series will gasp at this ranking, so before you forever lose trust in the Glog, please let me explain how wonderful All Monsters Attack actually is. For many Godzilla rankings, AMA ranks near the bottom of the list, if not thee bottom, due to its childish plot and heavy use of stock footage (The film is almost a compilation of Godzilla battles from previous movies, with only 1 or 2 truly new Godzilla scenes within). I've ranked it so high because this is my most beloved Godzilla movie. As a child, it may very well have been the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, and definitely within the top three, and because it targets a younger audience so heavily, it hooked me to Godzilla forever. It literally is the perfect Godzilla movie to introduce a youngster too. It has such a nostalgic feel to it that I can watch it over and over and never get tired of it. Everything is so memorable about this film. It takes me back to another age of my life and not many things can do that nowadays, and I will forever cherish  Godzilla's Revenge because of that simple fact.

The film introduces a young boy protagonist, Ichiro, (seen in the above picture) who deals with some neighborhood bullies on his way to and from school. The main bullies name is Gabara. Ichiro is sort of an outcast and his parents are always working, so when he does get home, he is watched by his neighbor Shinpei, who designs toys and lets Ichiro test all his new creations. It is seemingly an ideal place for a child to grow up, but Ichiro doesn't understand why his parents must be away so much. Ichiro has a dream device with antennas that he uses to signal monster island with before he sleeps, allowing him to dream of the island where all his monster heroes reside. All the monster sequences in this movie are dreams of Ichiro's. On the island, he watches Godzilla fight some Kamacuras (stock footage from Son of Godzilla), before being chased through the jungle by one of the huge praying mantises. Ichiro falls in a deep hole and escapes. Struggling to get out, a rope is tossed to him and he is pulled to the surface by a friendly face: Minilla, the Son of Godzilla, who is the same size as Ichiro. Together, they find out about each others bully problems, as Minilla explains a large monster picks on him on the island, calling him Gabara, just like Ichiro's real life bully. Shinpei awakens Ichiro though, and serves him some delectable looking noodles and beef for dinner. It makes my mouth water. Shinpei is warned by investigators to keep an eye out for two bank robbers rumored to be hiding out in the area, which features many abandoned industrial buildings that the kids like to play in. Ichiro goes playing in one building and finds a liscense that happens the be one of the robber's, who are hiding from Ichiro in the same building. They go after Ichiro to get the license back. Ichiro goes back to sleep at home and meets up with Minilla again. The duo watch as Godzilla beats up Ebirah (more stock footage) a giant condor, and Kumonga the giant spider, before the monster Gabara confronts Minilla. Ichiro coaches Minilla on as the little monster shape shifts to a larger size to fight the beast. Minilla is no match though and Gabara eventually loses interest. Godzilla then fights some fighter jets before teaching Minilla how to use his atomic ray beam, which the little can only shoot as innocent blue bubbles, much to Ichiro's amusement. Godzilla stomps on Minilla's tail and the son of Godzilla finally releases his ray beam in full.

 Ichiro is suddenly awakened by the robbers, who steal him from his house as Shinpei is gone. They also steal Shinpei's car, which is for sale. Ichiro prepares a booby trap for the robbers, while explaining to one of them about his inspiration Minilla on Monster Island. He falls asleep and dreams of Minilla trying to valiantly fight off Gabara, who has electrical powers now. Ichiro helps to get Minilla to use his ray beam. Godzilla comes to watch the fray. Minilla jumps off a cliff onto a teeter totter log, launching Gabara into the air. The monster appears stunned before it attacks Godzilla who is busy congratulating his son. Godzilla then commences kicking Gabara's ass himself. The robber's awaken Ichiro, who attempts to escape, using the lessons he learned on monster island from Minilla as his inspiration, he eludes the robber's attempts to apprehend him in similar fashion to a "Home Alone" movie, namely a fire extinguisher. Shinpei, who is looking for his stolen car, finds it and a money bag inside and phones the police as the robber's chase Ichiro through the abandoned building. Once they come back outside, the police arrest them and save Ichiro. With his newfound courage, Ichiro is able to confront his Gabara bully soon after, fighting him off before delivering the entire Godzilla series best dialog line ever, "All bullies are alike, ya can't take it!" Gabara and his bullies seem to appreciate Ichiro now, especially after Ichiro knocks a man painting a billboard off his ladder, spilling paint over his face. Ichiro's father intervenes and apologizes, and the gang all walk off to school together as friends.

Some of you may be wondering why this movie has been titled Godzilla's Revenge, and rightfully so, because Godzilla doesn't avenge anything in this movie. I think this was just the cheap American title for the film. Of the several Godzilla movies geared towards children, this is the ultimate. It doesn't get any better than this. Looking beyond the cheap stock footage use and emphasis towards children, I think everyone can appreciate the spirit and heartwarming nature of this Godzilla movie, because it is the best at exhibiting these qualities and should be celebrated instead of laughed off and criticized. We all have a little Ichiro in us, and we can all learn something from a movie like this.

#8- "The Return of Godzilla" or "Godzilla 1985" (1984)

Coming in at number eight in the countdown, The Return of Godzilla is a superb and masterfully crafted movie. This was the first Godzilla movie released after nearly a decade, and it brought Godzilla back to his roots. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) was the last movie to be made, and the last of the Showa series, which featured Godzilla mainly as a protagonist and hero unlike the original film in which Godzilla was the antagonist. The Return of Godzilla brings back that evil persona the King of the Monsters first played, and let me tell you, it is actually scary. This movie was meant to be the direct sequel to the original 1954 film, and thus it omits all the happenings of the rest of the Showa series, making this the first movie of the Heisei series. I think the most important thing viewers can notice about The Return of Godzilla (Godzilla 1985 in American theaters and dvds) is how it delivers an anti-nuclear message through a strong plot featuring the cold war tensions of the time. You have to look back and realize that Japan geographically was right in the middle of Russia and the United States, and had a nuclear exchange actually occurred, they likely would've suffered just as much as any other nation. The fears of such an event are effectively channeled into the movie and create a very disturbing sense of mass catastrophe just around the corner, brought to light by the sudden reappearance of Godzilla as he lurks around unseen in Japanese waters.

The story begins with a Japanese vessel in rough waters during a massive storm. They appear to be running aground near a small island and are radioing for help when the island explodes and a massive roar is heard. The news reports later of a missing vessel off the Japanese coast and by chance, reporter Goro Maki stumbles upon an apparently abandoned vessel while sailing by himself. He investigates and finds several bodies, along with one unconscious man. Suddenly, Goro is attacked by a massive insect, resembling an over grown cockroach (Toho officially lists it as a Shockirus or Giant sea louse). Goro appears outmatched before the unconscious man, Hiroshi, awakens and kills the louse. Hiroshi had captured pictures of the beast that killed the rest of his crew and he along with Goro realize it was Godzilla. Thought to be dead for the last 30 years, Goro tries to break the story at his job, but he is prevented by his boss, who has orders to keep Godzilla covered up so the public doesn't panic. The cover up doesn't last long because suddenly a Soviet submarine goes down in the pacific and Cold War tensions hit a boiling point. Russia assumes the U.S. took down their sub, and the U.S. tries to figure out what could have possibly happened. It appears war is on the horizon until the Japanese Prime Minister reveals the cause of the crash: Godzilla. This is what's great about this movie, because there is sudden worldwide panic. Japan is in uproar over the news and people begin preparing. Russia and the U.S. decide nuclear weapons must be used to prevent Godzilla from destroying everything, but Japan has a strict nuclear policy, and they refuse to allow other nations to use their WMD's against Godzilla should he step foot on Japanese soil. Goro, who was initially instructed to cover up Godzilla, takes his evidence of the beast to a professor, Makoto Hayashida, who verifies it is Godzilla. Suddenly, Godzilla arrives on shore, and attacks a nuclear power plant for it's energy (seen in the above picture). Goro and Hayashida observe a flock of chirping sea birds flying by Godzilla as he feeds, and the monster is distracted by them and follows the birds back to sea. Hayashida assumes Godzilla is attracted to the frequency they chirp at. He attempts to create a machine that can duplicate that frequency, to use as defense if Godzilla attacks a city. Soon enough, Godzilla is sighted swimming into Tokyo Bay, and the city is evacuated. This sequence is the most extensive evacuation scene in Godzilla history I think. It really gets the point across that everyone is in fear. Godzilla meets the Japanese Army at shore and quickly destroys them with his atomic ray, and the waves from his arrival smash a nearby docked freighter into a seawall. However, the freighter is actually a disguised Soviet ship, placed there purposely to defend against a Godzilla attack, and the impact with the seawall triggers a Soviet satellite missile launch, aimed directly for Tokyo. Godzilla marches into the heart of the city, destroying buildings and even picking up a train full of pedestrians. Professor Hayashida tests his frequency device and lures Godzilla to his penthouse laboratory, and before Godzilla can finish him and Goro off, some Japanese Maser tanks and the special weapon, the Super X, a sort of flying tank, attacks Godzilla. The Super X succeeds in firing Cadmium missiles down Godzilla's throat, knocking him out for a period of time. Hayashida is airlifted by the military to Mt. Mihara, a volcanic Island off the coast of Japan, where he intends to lure Godzilla into the erupting caldera.

The Americans fire an intercept missile that successfully impacts the soviet nuke far above Tokyo, but the resulting blast lets out an EMP, which downs the Super X and revives Godzilla. After a short battle, Godzilla pushes a sky scraper over onto the crashed Super X, destroying it. He then returns towards the building with Hayashida's lab, searching for the noise as Goro and Naoko (Hayashida's assistant and Hiroshi's sister) try to escape on foot. A looting mad man is trampled by Godzilla before Hayashida triggers his device on Mt. Mihara, luring Godzilla away from Goro and Naoko just in time. Godzilla arrives on Mt. Mihara and walks to the edge of the erupting volcano. Suddenly the cliff face gives way underneath him and tumbles down the side of the caldera to a lower level. Once inside, the Japanese forces detonate some explosives that drop Godzilla into the heart of the eruption, hopefully sealing the monster away forever. It is a heart wrenching scene as Godzilla falls into the abyss, his trademark roar being morphed into an almost child-like wail of despair, and while watching the incredible scene unfold, you might notice that even the victimized Japanese forces appear sad as Godzilla falls towards his doom. They realize the power of nature and nuclear energy, and that they don't stand a chance against such forces.


The plot is excellent and is a perfect example of a Godzilla movie bringing to light the current events of the world in movie format. This has been done more than several times in the Godzilla series, but this time is probably the most effective. As I stated earlier, this movie is actually scary, being that Godzilla has returned to his antagonistic ways. His footsteps are massive and signify his advance well before he is seen. He appears to kill people when he picks up the train and holds the people helplessly two hundred feet in the air. The whole of Japan and the world for that matter is afraid of his coming and take drastic measures to escape his wake. The music is chilling, and gives you the sense something out there is lurking, waiting to come to the light, and once he's there, all hell will break loose. This truly is the sequel to the original Godzilla. Several shots of Godzilla marching across the city are fantastic, and truly bring the monster to a believable scale nearby the massive modern skyscrapers of Tokyo. For this movie, the production team created a 20 foot tall head puppet and foot, which they used sparingly although it brought a new dimension to the several ways with which to depict Godzilla destroying things. Also, for the American release of The Return of Godzilla, an American actor, Raymond Burr, was spliced into the footage, to provide a character for the American audience. Raymond Burr played reporter Steve Martin in the original Godzilla movie, and he was the only American to witness Godzilla's first rampage, so in the American version of TRoG, he reprised this Steve Martin character to provide the American military with intel on the creature and his weaknesses. Its an interesting addition to the film, but one that I think works well, and also respectfully pays homage to the original movie. The Return of Godzilla is one of the greatest of the series and very strong plot-wise, not just for a seasoned Godzilla viewer, but for anyone. It is engrossing, horrifying, entertaining, and eye-opening, and it is one Godzilla movie that I think is fit for anyone.

Godzilla tumbles into Mt. Mihara in what is one of the G series saddest moments.

#9- "Destroy All Monsters" (1968)

 

If I had to select a movie to represent the entirety of the early goings of the Godzilla series (Showa Series), Destroy All Monsters would be my final choice. This is a legendary Toho production and for good reason. It features eleven, count that, eleven monsters! These eleven beasts, led by Godzilla, are all contained on "Monster Land," a fanciful place where all the monsters live, near the Ogasawara Islands. This is not Monster Island, infact Monster land and Monster Island are two different entities. They're basically the same thing, but Monster Land exists in the future in 1999, (well the past now, but you get the idea) while Monster Island exists in the present day of the Godzilla Movies it is in. Destroy All Monsters is the best though at showing Earth's monsters in their natural settings of Monster Land. The eleven monsters from left to right in the above picture: Larval Mothra, Gorosaurus, Rodan (flying), Kumonga the spider, Anguirus, King Ghidorah (flying), Varan (Flying in background), Godzilla, Manda (the snake creature), Baragon, and Godzilla's Son, Minilla. No movie up until Final Wars ever depicted eleven monsters all at once, making Destroy All Monsters a revolutionary Monster movie.

The story begins by outlining the monsters of Monster land and the futuristic technology of the world that has developed by 1999, including space ships regularly traveling to the several established moon bases. The monsters are contained on the island, but suddenly break out by unknown means. Godzilla attacks New York and destroys the United Nations Headquarters, Rodan destroys Moscow,  and Gorosaurus tunnels into Paris. Mothra destroys Beijing and Manda slithers around in London. Meanwhile, Captain Katsuo, pilot of the space rocket "Moonlight SY-3", is sent to discover why the monsters have rebelled. He, along with his crew of cornily dressed yellow space men, discover an alien race, known as the Kilaacks, has taken mind control over the scientists of Monster Land, as well as the Monsters, releasing them to take over the world. Moonlight SY-3 goes on a daring mission to the moon to destroy the Kilaacks communication base there before returning to Earth as the Monsters wreak havoc in Tokyo together. With their strange communications down, the Kilaacks lose control of the monsters, who become friendly again and converge together by Mt. Fuji. This prompts the Kilaacks to send down their ultimate monster, King Ghidorah,  (again), who takes on seven of the ten Earth Monsters at once (Varan, Baragon, and Manda all sit the bench but are present). The Earth Monsters, led by Godzilla, appear to kill King Ghidorah, and even little Minilla gets to dole out some pain. Then, Godzilla destroys the hidden Kilaack base on Earth as they release a flying flaming monster into the air. Moonlight SY-3 and its crew of weak actors goes after it, and they successfully destroy the flaming apparition which ends up being a flaming flying saucer. Godzilla and his posse of monsters return to Monster Land to live happily ever after.

Gorosaurus and his memorable "Kangaroo Kick" which knocks Ghidorah down for good.
 

For 1968, Destroy All Monsters was clearly intended to be ahead of its time. It has such an ambitious plot and so much action, that it's easily one of the most memorable Godzilla movies. As a kid, all the monster mayhem in this movie was a dream come true, but watching it nowadays from an analytical perspective breathes a slightly different story: Destroy All Monsters may fall short in the pacing category. Some of the scenes without monsters are quite boring, and as I mentioned above, the actor's skills do little to keep the somewhat slow pace of the movie engrossing. Captain Katsuo may as well be Captain Obvious, almost narrating to the viewer what is going on on-screen. There is a prevalent female theme here, although I do not think it accomplishes much in the end despite its deemed relevance. These short comings aside, the shots of various monsters in various cities around the world are incredible, especially when Gorosaurus enters Paris. I've read that Destroy All Monsters was intended to be the final Godzilla movie before, and I think this bears significance because DaM was clearly channeled into the last "final" Godzilla movie, Final Wars, in which an alien race takes over the monsters for world domination, culminating in releasing King Ghidorah on the Earth. You could make a serious argument that Final Wars is the remake of Destroy All Monsters, but despite the new age production, Destroy All Monsters still does it better. This was the 9th movie in the Godzilla series and I've unintentionally ranked it 9th overall on the countdown. Not only has this movie gone down as one of the most memorable Godzilla movies, but I think it has a strong case for one of the best Monster Movies of all time. A monster cast as strong as this one will never be witnessed again. It's nostalgic. It's legendary. It's old school Godzilla at its best.

#10- "Godzilla vs King Ghidorah" (1991)

Starting off the top ten, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah features the Heisei era reintroduction of Godzilla's most infamous rival, along with an elaborate origin story of the King of the Monsters himself, along with a time traveling theme. The movie starts with the discovery of a UFO, which turns out to be a time machine carrying travelers from the year 2204. They hail from Japan, and come to warn the present day Japanese that Godzilla has completely destroyed the entire country by the 23rd century. Their mission is to go back in time to the 1940's during World War II to find the original Godzillasaurus, a dinosaur that survived somehow on Lagos Island in the Pacific and saved a troop of Japanese soldiers, led by the older character Yasuaki, from an American attack. Main character Terasawa, a writer, believes Yasuaki knows something, although Yasuaki denies the dinosaur ever existed. His hypothesis confirmed, the time travelers, known as the Futurians, allow Terasawa to accompany them, along with psychic Miki Saegusa. The group witnesses first hand as the Godzillasaurus destroys the American land forces before being mortally wounded by the nearby US destroyers out at sea. After a younger version of Yasuaki thanks the Godzillasaurus and bids it farewell, the Futurians transport the wounded Dinosaur away from the island, so that it may never come in contact with the nuclear tests that morphed it into Godzilla. They deposit the creature deep in the Bering Sea and return to present day Japan, although not before one of the Futarians, a homegrown Japanese girl named Emmy, releases 3 futuristic pets onto the island, little golden winged bats named Dorats. Back in 1991, the group learns that Godzilla has vanished, but now in his place there is King Ghidorah, a monstrous Golden three headed Dragon, the creation of the Dorats being exposed to those same nuclear tests that formed Godzilla. The Futurians control the beast to destroy Japan. The tides turned, Emmy suddenly feels resentful for what she has done and tells Terasawa what actually is up. Japan becomes the worlds leading superpower in the future and the Futurians mission is actually to destroy Japan before that ever comes to fruition. The Futurians send their android M-11 (who looks just like Michael Fassbender) to retrieve Emmy in a ridiculous and entirely cheesy car chase with Terasawa. The scene is all to similar to a Terminator spoof. At this same time, Yasuaki sends  a secret Japanese Nuclear sub to revive the Godzillasaurus corpse in the Bering sea in an attempt to bring back Godzilla to combat the rampaging King Ghidorah, but a Russian sub goes down in the area and soon after, the Japanese sub is attacked. Godzilla has returned, and is alive and well. He returns to Japan, a monstrous hulking form larger than ever after absorbing the two submarines nuclear payloads. He is now 100 meters tall, nearly twice that of the original Godzilla. He looks incredible too; the G suit for this movie was largely unchanged from the previous Biollante movie. The Futurians send King Ghidorah to destroy Godzilla, and the golden dragon gains the upper hand quickly. Back at the Time Machine, Emmy secretly changes M-11's hard drive to be on her side, because the Futurians don't lock her up for her betrayal, and with Terasawa's help, the group manages to cause King Ghidorah to go haywire as it combats Godzilla in the countryside. Without anyone controlling it, Ghidorah loses its advantage over Godzilla, who picks up the three headed monster and slams it against the Earth, then blasts its middle head off with an Atomic Beam.

Emmy teleports the Futurians space ship to Godzilla's feet before they can escape, and Godzilla finishes them off. Japan still has Godzilla to deal with now, and Emmy thinks she can help. She returns to her futuristic home to reconstruct King Ghidorah, as Godzilla in the present day destroys Tokyo. Yasuaki remains in his penthouse office, awaiting the beast. He shares a tear with Godzilla as they look each other eye to eye, as if remembering each other from that day long ago on Lagos island. Suddenly, Godzilla destroys Yasuaki and his building, before marching right into the heart of Tokyo. Surrounded by 1000 foot skyscrapers, Godzilla is somewhat small looking, especially when Emmy returns from the future just in time with a monstrous cyborg creation, Mecha King Ghidorah. She pilots the cyborg as it begins attacking Godzilla, sending the monster toppling into a skyscraper.

 

Godzilla's advance is ceaseless though, and he quickly gains the upper hand in knocking Mecha King Ghidorah's wings out of commission as the cyborg attempts an aerial assault. However, in a less than spectacular ending to an awesome idea, Emmy uses the cyborgs G cables to capture Godzilla's limbs and waist in large metal grips. She then flies out over the ocean before Godzilla blasts Mecha King Ghidorah's wings for a final time, plunging the two monsters deep into the ocean. Terasawa and his group wait anxiously for Emmy before she surfaces and waves goodbye, returning to the future. Godzilla awakens at the ocean's floor, next to a lifeless Mecha King Ghidorah carcass. It's a rather ambitious plot, but I think with the exception of the final battle between Godzilla and Mecha Ghidorah, its well put together. The origin of Godzilla is finally laid out in film, and this is a welcomed treat to any G fan. The special effects are awesome, especially in Godzilla's first countryside battle with Ghidorah, and during his scenes where he marches into Japan. However, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah was met with heavy criticism during its release for being anti-western in a way. The American forces on Lagos Island appear inept at combating a forty foot tall Dinosaur (who wouldn't?) and are utterly destroyed by the beast that clearly favors the Japanese. The Futurians, with the exception of Emmy, all appear American. On top of this all is a bizarre scene as two naval officers observe Lagos island the night before their attack, and witness the Futurian time machine fly past them like a comet. One officer says it's nothing, and that it would make a good story for the other officers children one day, calling the younger officer "Major Spielberg." Now Steven Spielberg, the famed director, was born in 1946, after World War II was officially over, so he himself could never have participated although after some digging, I found that his father Arnold Spielberg, who was born in 1917, participated in a war himself, and it was likely World War II. Now I have no idea what Toho was trying to get at with this gag in allowing Steven Spielberg's father to be mentioned in this movie, but it likely relates to something along the lines of two of Spielberg's most famous movies "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" and confusing the Futurian ship with a UFO. And this is the 2nd time I've mentioned E.T. in this countdown which scares me. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah is a great movie though, very entertaining and action packed, with some hilariously cheesy moments to boot. These positive moments in mind, GvKG is clearly the worst of the top 10 though.

#11- "Godzilla" (2014)

What!? Godzilla 2014 is only 11th? How can this be! Yes, it is true, while I have been following the production of this latest Godzilla movie for around 5 years, I cannot say the end product fit with what I had been imagining for years now. I mean, big screen, bigger budget, biggest ambitions for a Godzilla movie in years, that sounds like a recipe for success to me, and Godzilla 2014 is. To date, it has taken in nearly 400 million worldwide, far exceeding its 150 million dollar budget and also likely cementing a possible sequel or two in the years to come. However, as excited as I was for Godzilla, I cannot say I was blown away in theaters. I left with a sort of empty feeling, like the ride was over and it wasn't as good as people said it was. I was happy I rode that ride, but I wanted to go back and ride the other ones that I liked before. So you might be thinking that this is insane, that a Godzilla fanatic like Gabe should've been crying tears of joy during the credits and returning to the ticket booth to buy another ticket. Well, I wasn't disappointed, nor was I swept off my feet, and this neutral ground might be worse than being disappointed. You see, Roland Emmerich fucked up when he made his lizard movie, and that was disappointing to me, but it spawned six new Japanese Godzilla movies (all of which better) to cover up the terribleness of that 1998 movie. This time around, I think that Godzilla 2014 deserves a sequel or two because it harkens back towards the original Godzilla far better than 1998 did, but it also might be good enough that Toho doesn't have to make more G movies. Certainly I don't want a large production like this to go to waste so we can have more suit-mation from Japan; I think every G fan ever has dreamed of seeing Godzilla at a CGI level like the one we've just been treated to. But I just can't shake the hope that this new movie, good or bad, might've spawned a new series of original Japanese movies. What I'm trying to say is I thought Godzilla would've been better, but it's also just good enough to accomplish what it set out to do, and prevent a possible new series from Japan (which is an entirely hypothetical situation based on the last American "Godzilla" production and no movie plots or production ideas have ever been confirmed factually).

Godzilla shines in it's monster battle moments, and the scale of destruction is brilliant and on a level we haven't witnessed before, although my slight on this is that Godzilla's invincible nature is toned down a notch. He actually appears to be beaten at one point in the movie, if not for the quick actions of Ford Brody. He collapses in exhaustion at the end and appears sluggish at times. He is persistent though, and that in itself is accurate I think, but we really don't get a huge sampling of this Godzilla's personality, which is my biggest problem with the new release. In all the past movies, Godzilla is more a character than a monster at times, even when he is big and bad, you know as an experienced viewer what his behavior is and how his character will diagnose and solve the problem. This Godzilla is more of an enigma to me. His motives are unclear (They say he needs to restore balance, but to what?) and his screen time is reduced, so you lose out on that characterizing aspect that the Japanese originals do so well. There is far more screen time given to the Muto monsters and how they move so unorthodoxly and the characters as they observe everything. As a film student, I understand and appreciate the "Jaws" effect in slowly revealing something to the audience, but to me it just takes away from the spectacle of being able to gawk at Godzilla's glory. The scene above where Godzilla steps into the shot is great, but the scene 5 minutes before it where we finally see Godzilla's towering spines cutting through the water towards the aircraft carrier gave me chills. Had the original Godzilla score been laced into that scene, I likely would've screamed like a little girl and cried.

This picture above I think perfectly illustrates what Godzilla was in the movie. More enigma than character, more of a force than an actual living creature, and far more good than bad (The picture has a heavenly glow to it. Godzilla never intentionally knocks over a building or attacks a navy destroyer, for example). He is portrayed as a morally perfect being almost (exclude the tsunami drowning scene), far more so than other films where even if he is good, he'll take a hack at a building or two. It just all comes down to me wanting more. I wanted to see Godzilla more, and see him in clear light rather than dark shadows. I wanted to see his facial reactions to events to better understand him as the main character of the movie. We know what the observing cast members are thinking, but we never get that "here's what Godzilla is thinking" perspective that is prevalent in the original Japanese series. I wanted to witness how destructive he could be, rather than skirt around buildings despite his increase in size. I wanted to know where he went in between the nuclear attack on him in the 1950's and the present day, and how the government covered him up. I wanted Bryan Cranston's character more, and was confused why he died so soon. Ford Brody's wife, Elle, serves no purpose to the film, she's just in the city while the monsters come. They never show her in danger ever; there's no emotional attachment to her. Godzilla's majestic atomic ray was once again reduced to a fiery blaze, and although it kept its trademark blue color, fire is not as cool or powerful as a ray beam. Godzilla can aim the beam from afar to shoot down small jets or do a ranged battle with another monster. This fiery version is only good up close. After Godzilla collapses and the nuke explodes off shore, a perfect segue to a great ending was temporarily available and I was waiting for it, but it was not taken advantage of. The nuke, far too close to the city, would've destroyed and irradiated everything, so what if Godzilla absorbed the radiation and was revived, literally saving the city and surrounding area again, minus the force of the blast knocking everything over. Maybe they decided this was too much like Godzilla vs Destroyah, but oh well, it would've been perfect, and I was turned off by this mishap in the plot. Despite all this nit-picking I've done, Godzilla ranks in at 11th because of its large budget and big screen image. It is a far better reimagining of Godzilla than before, and overall I would say it was quite worth the wait since the last Godzilla movie in 2004, Final Wars. I hope that they start a possible sequel soon to capitalize on this new era of monster movies that is beginning to rise in popularity, movies such as Pacific Rim and Cloverfield. However, there are 10 other Godzilla movies out there that truly exhibit what Godzilla is that I would rather watch than 2014, and I cannot wait to Glog about them, especially if you think Godzilla 2014 was incredible.

I wore my Godzilla slippers and favorite shirt to the theater.

#12- "Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla" (1974)

There have been a lot of Mechagodzilla entries on the countdown so far, but this one is near the top of the list. This 1974 film was the very first to feature Mechagodzilla, one of Godzilla's most legendary rivals. A strange looking Godzilla arrives and marches across the countryside destructively. As the main characters look on bewildered by Godzilla's behavior, Anguirus shows up and attacks Godzilla. This is strange because they are supposedly allies. Godzilla beats up Anguirus, attempting to break the smaller monsters jaws as blood drains across the battlefield. Anguirus slithers away in retreat. Soon after, as Godzilla destroys a shipyard, the creature is confronted by another Godzilla, both identical. Now the main characters are really confused. Suddenly, one Godzilla (the last to arrive) blasts the other with a blue atomic ray, causing the skin of the first Godzilla to melt away and reveal a metallic under skin. Suddenly, the first Godzilla sheds its disguise, and Mechagodzilla is exposed to the audience for the first time. Godzilla and Mechagodzilla duke it out amidst a massive firestorm that nearly engulfs the two monsters, and the destruction scene here is epic. It has to be a highlight moment of the Toho special effects studio. Mechagodzilla blasts Godzilla into the ocean, and a huge pool of blood clouds the bubbling water. You could make a legitimate argument that this Godzilla movie is the goriest to date. Now it is time for the main characters to figure out what the heck is going on. At the beginning of the movie they witness a prophecy that a monster will come to save the Earth in its time of need. That monster is speculated to be King Ceaser, a fabled Azumi God who resides somewhere hidden nearby the Azumi people. Two characters, Keisuke and Saeko, take a small statue of King Ceaser on a ship to have someone look into it for them but they are followed by some shady characters, one of which defends them from the other. However, the shady character that dies turns out to be an alien, and falls over board with the statue. It appears a lost cause now to reawaken King Ceaser, until Keisuke pulls out the real statue from a safe deposit box on the ship in an over convenient and far too outlandish solution to a once dire problem. How the hell did he have time to make a copy of the statue? Keisuke and Saeko learn that aliens called the Simians control Mechagodzilla and plan to take over the Earth, so that they may colonize it, and as I said in the last Glog, the Simians are basically from Planet of the Apes. Godzilla reappears and absorbs lightning in a large storm near Monster Island. The Interpol agent that saved Keisuke on the boat helps to investigate the Simians base with Keisuke and together they learn that Mechagodzilla will be released soon. They go to awaken King Ceaser, who arrives just in time to attack Mechagodzilla, but is no match alone. Godzilla shows up and joins forces with King Ceaser, but Mechagodzilla is still too powerful. The metal machine bloodies up Godzilla again, impaling him with several of its explosive missile fingers before Godzilla summons his new electrical powers and pulls a flying Mechagodzilla to him like a magnet. Finally within close combat range, Godzilla holds Mechagodzilla up while King Ceaser lays the beat down, then Godzilla rips off the robots head, and the Simians are ousted. It's a very complete movie that introduces some new plot ideas to the normally pretty predictable G movie. The acting is good and  the scenes that don't feature Godzilla don't take away from the movie and leave you wanting to see the beast rather than his observers. I think this is a huge factor to consider when grading Godzilla movies and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla does a great job at entertaining through and through, especially for a 70's era movie. The special effects are masterful as well. Anyone can watch this movie and enjoy it.

The cast of monsters with King Ceaser on the left.

A disguised Mechagodzilla breaks Anguirus's jaw.

#13- "Terror of Mechagodzilla" (1975)

Terror of Mechagodzilla was the last movie of the original Showa series of Godzilla films, and after this films release it would be another decade before Godzilla returned to the big screen, mainly because this surprisingly was the least successful Showa series film upon release. Godzilla's annual attack on theaters may have reduced interest in the King of the Monsters, and Toho put the legendary franchise on hold until 1984's Return of Godzilla. Despite the poorer numbers in the box office, Terror of Mechagodzilla is actually quite entertaining. It takes a little while to get into the pace of things, but once it does, the movie is engrossing and has a good plot. A submarine crew encounters a new monster, Titanosaurus, deep under water, and a Japanese investigation bureau known as Interpol tracks down a mad scientist who has studied the monster, named Mafune. His work on the beast was rejected by a scientific panel and thus, he desires to punish humanity for their injustices towards him by controlling Titanosaurus. Mafune is in league with the Simians, the alien race from a planet near a black hole who are not at all unlike the apes from Planet of the Apes. They control Mechagodzilla and combined with Mafune, seek to take over the planet. But Mafune releases his beast too soon, and Godzilla arrives to fend off Titanosaurus. Later on in the movie, once Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla combine forces, they are powerful enough to defeat Godzilla, although Godzilla has some help too. Interpol uses a frequency emitter device that creates a sound that Titanosaurus can't stand, driving the monster crazy. This allows Godzilla ample time to destroy Mechagodzilla and then turn his sights on the escaping Simians, which he also destroys. Then, Godzilla finishes off Titanosaurus and returns to his ocean lair. The movie features a tragic love story as well. Mafune's daughter Katsura telepathically controls Mechagodzilla and is also in league with the Simians, but when she falls in love with Interpol agent Ichinose she becomes a double agent of sorts, culminating in a wild suicide as she lays in Ichinose's arms, which allows Mechagodzilla to go haywire. It's quite sad, and has a sort of Romeo and Juliet feel to it. Another big theme of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla movies is the idea of nature vs machine. Mechagodzilla represents humanities attempts to control nature, and Godzilla represents the unpredictable and always dominant organic side. Even though they may not explicitly say it, the ideal of preserving our natural environment rather than tampering with it is clearly evident in all Mechagodzilla movies. Terror of Mechagodzilla is a better movie than it's box office from 1975 shows, and it is the rare Godzilla movie to successfully carry out a tragic side plot to all the glorious monster mayhem.

Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus prepare to do battle with Godzilla.

Godzilla runs through a barrage of missile fire from his cyborg counterpart.

#14- "Mothra vs Godzilla" (1964)

We've reached a point now in the Godzilla countdown where the movies are no longer glaringly bad. The symbolic strength of this movie is top notch and the plot is very good, but there are thirteen other more fascinating films to watch, and I think this is a testimony to the strength and continuity of the Godzilla series. It's not that this movie is middle of the pack, it's that it and its thirteen followers are just good all around movies and could all be deserving of a top ten or even top five finish.  The fourth Godzilla movie to be released, and the first to match up Godzilla with arguably Toho's second most famous kaiju creation Mothra. It is a very complete movie, and it could easily slot in higher in other fans countdowns in my opinion. I understand the confusion one might have in the idea of a giant radioactive monster in Godzilla battling an overgrown moth, but bear with me here while I break it down a little more analytically. Usually in most G movies where Mothra makes a cameo, she gets beat up pretty good by the Big G. I mean Mothra can land some blows and take some hits, but generally speaking, she doesn't match up well with Godzilla. There have been movies where Godzilla and Mothra are allies, and more where they are exact opposites, and Mothra ends up protecting humanity from Godzilla. Godzilla isn't always the good guy, nor is he always the bad guy, but Mothra is always good. This in mind, it is important to understand Mothra as more than just a big moth monster that Toho dreamed up, she usually is there to represent everything "good" and also to show just how fragile that good is. To the best of my knowledge, Godzilla is pretty antagonistic towards Mothra, with the exception of some monster island scenes and in "Destroy All Monsters", where everyone gets along. Bless her heart, Mothra will get her wings blown off by Godzilla's atomic ray time and time again to remind us that the "good" is beautifully fragile and deserves to be preserved. Moving on, Mothra vs Godzilla was released in the United States under the clever title, Godzilla vs The Thing, an obvious example of the time period in film history when it was appropriate to give movies and monsters alike shitty names. Thus, in the English dubbed VHS, the characters refer to Mothra as The Thing over and over, not exclusively, but enough to be annoyed by it. The movie starts with Mothra's egg washing ashore in Japan, where a greedy business man buys it to use as a theme park attraction. Godzilla arises from the ground in a developing piece of land, and immediately goes after the egg. There is a strong theme present in this movie about the greed of human nature, shown definitively in the character who bought the egg, and his master entrepreneur who actually owns the theme park along with a locker full of cold hard cash. One could almost say that Mothra's egg, once purchased and on display, could represent the greed of humanity and how big it actually is. It's no coincidence when Godzilla attempts to destroy this egg as soon as he begins his rampage through Japan; just another way Godzilla breaks barriers in subtle ways. However, before the egg can be destroyed, Mothra defends it valiantly, dragging Godzilla around before she is killed by the King of the Monsters. Resting on her egg as she dies, the egg hatches and reveals two larval mothras, smaller and sluggish looking, they appear innocent and powerless against the onslaught of Godzilla, who is actually quite the menace this time around. Godzilla destroys the building the two evil business men are in, as they fight over the locker of cash, and satisfyingly puts an end to the greediest most selfish characters in the movie. But even in this bright spot, Godzilla remains the bad guy, as he turns his attention towards a band of escaping children and attempts to "get" them. I don't want to say kill them because of the strong connotation, but the goal of Godzilla here is somewhat evil, and this is probably the example of Godzilla at his worst in terms of relating to children. Before he can go to the darkside though, the two larval mothras step in and cocoon Godzilla in their moth splooge before dropping him into the ocean, saving the children. The symbolism in this movie is fantastic, and it's one of the more powerful and meaningful films in the series. It is also very entertaining, especially for such an old entry, and I myself could watch it over and over again. It is a perfect example of what a Godzilla movie is supposed to do, entertain and spread awareness on human ignorance. Chalk this one up as a legendary monster matchup.

Mothra knocks over Godzilla.

Godzilla suddenly rises out of the ground in this movie, and teaches us an important lesson in doing so. The land he comes out of is undeveloped and recently purchased by a businessman, who looks on in horror as Godzilla surprises everyone by being under our noses the entire time. He appears as a powerful force of nature and reminds us that we don't own anything on this planet, this planet owns us.

#15- "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth" (1992)

We've reached the halfway point of the countdown, featuring 1992's Godzilla vs Mothra, a very colorful remake of 1964's Mothra vs Godzilla, with the introduction of Battra as Mothra's nemesis counterpart, who both join forces to combat the King of the Monsters. This movie is great in all regards even though the plot is almost the exact same idea as Mothra vs Godzilla. An exploratory adventure to infant island allows 3 explorers to discover Mothra's egg, which a business man in Japan purchases as an attraction for his company. As the egg is being transported back, Godzilla intercepts it, and attempts to destroy it. The explorers, one an Indiana Jones lookalike, the other a ruthless entrepreneur, fight over the fate of the egg, with Indy winning. He detaches the egg from the ship as it hatches. Larval Mothra then attempts to battle the monstrous Godzilla, who knocks her around quite easily. However, Battra arrives, in her towering larval stage, almost as big as Godzilla, and takes the King of the Monsters to the bottom of the ocean for a seafloor battle, where their combined powers rupture the Philippine plate and they are swallowed alive into a lava chasm. It is assumed they are dead. Mothra heads towards Japan in search of her fairy twin goddesses, who have been captured by the business men as their new attraction now that the egg is destroyed. Mothra destroys Tokyo before finding the fairies, and then cocoons herself to the capitol building of Tokyo, the Diet Building, to morph into her final adult form as the Mothra we so dearly love as an iconic Toho figure. Suddenly, the lava pressure in nearby Mt.Fuji sky rockets, and a massive eruption is triggered. Godzilla steps forth from the lava and destruction, his invincible form now realized as the Japanese forces look on in awe and terror. It's one of the more badass moments in the Heisei era, to realize and see Godzilla's brilliance as he crawls out of a massive eruption. He was inside the lava tube and crawled to Japan that way for thousands of miles, and one character puts it best as he observes the King of the Monsters march down the slopes towards Tokyo saying, "This is beyond our present knowledge or understanding." It gives me chills. Meanwhile, Battra arises out of the sea and morphs into her final winged form. She flies to Tokyo to combat Mothra in an aerial battle, but Godzilla interrupts them and the two enemies decide to join forces to stop Godzilla's rampage. Battra and Mothra buffet Godzilla with wing blasts, shoot him with energy beams, drop a monstrous sky scraper on Godzilla's neck, hit him with a 200 foot tall ferris wheel, and cover him in dust energy, yet Godzilla keeps coming back for more. Once the two flying insects knock him down using their dust particle attacks, they carry him out to sea together, but Godzilla bites Battra and uses his atomic ray to kill her in mid air, and Mothra drops the two beasts into the deep ocean. She then flies into outer space to finish Battra's ultimate mission of saving the Earth from a coming Asteroid. The plot of this film falls off sharply once the Monsters begin battling in Tokyo, and all the characters soon become onlookers, which is a battle for any monster movie, in getting the human characters to do more than witness the monsters for the audience, so this is forgivable in a sense although it is noticeable. The special effects are fantastic and really believable, especially since Mothra can actually use her wings to fly at times. Godzilla's Mt. Fuji eruption arrival is one of my favorite scenes ever, and the final battle is very cool despite the fragility of the Moths in the wake of Godzilla's power constantly being a factor. Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth has strong themes of environmental awareness and the fault of human greed, and clearly it is a film that promotes the health of the entire globe. It is a rock solid Godzilla movie that everyone should see.

Godzilla battles Battra before they are swallowed by an underwater volcanic eruption.

Mothra and Battra work together to carry Godzilla away from Japan.