All 38 Godzilla Movies, Ranked From Worst to Best (original) (raw)
Updated Mar 28, 2024, 10:00 PM EDT
Jeremy has more than 2500 published articles on Collider to his name, and has been writing for the site since February 2022. He's an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet, so will gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU... well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
His favorite directors include Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, John Woo, Bob Fosse, Fritz Lang, Guillermo del Toro, and Yoji Yamada. He's also very proud of the fact that he's seen every single Nicolas Cage movie released before 2022, even though doing so often felt like a tremendous waste of time. He's plagued by the question of whether or not The Room is genuinely terrible or some kind of accidental masterpiece, and has been for more than 12 years (and a similar number of viewings).
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Godzilla rightfully holds the title of "King of the Monsters," being the title character of one of the longest-running series in cinema history. The character first appeared almost 70 years ago, and has appeared in a total of 36 feature films ever since, on top of appearances in TV shows, video games, comic books, and also finding himself parodied/referenced in other media.
Movie monsters don't get more iconic or prolific, with one of the franchise's strengths being that its various films have different tones and belong to different genres, and Godzilla himself is sometimes depicted as villainous, heroic, or somewhere in between. The fact there have been Japanese and American takes on the character also adds to Godzilla's overall variety and longevity as a series. What follows is a ranking of all the Godzilla movies from worst to best, excluding TV shows (like 2021's Singular Point) and Americanized re-edits (like 1956's English-language recut of the original film).
38 'Godzilla' (1998)
Director: Roland Emmerich
Zilla menaces the city in Godzilla (1998)
Image via Sony Pictures
1998's Godzilla is a miserable slog of a film. It was the first American-produced take on Godzilla, and easily stands as the worst, with a large budget and all the resources Hollywood can offer doing nothing to make this fun, interesting, memorable, or even so-bad-it's-good. It's easily one of the worst movies of 1998, and is notorious among fans of the beloved giant radioactive lizard for not representing what makes this series of films good, and largely missing the point again and again throughout its runtime.
Instead of being so-bad-it's-good, it's just so bad. Anyone who sees this first may well be turned off Godzilla for good, and really, the only good that came out of this movie is the fact that it gets made fun of in a couple of Japanese Godzilla movies released in its wake (more on those later).
Release Date
May 20, 1998
Runtime
139 Minutes
Director
Roland Emmerich
37 'Godzilla: The Planet Eater' (2018)
Director: Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita
Between 2017 and 2018, there was a trilogy of Godzilla movies that had genuine potential, but never really lived up to it. These stood out for being entirely animated and having a story set 20,000 years into the future, following humanity trying to reclaim, Earth which has been taken over by Godzilla.
Godzilla: The Planet Eater is the third in the trilogy and serves as a low point after a so-so first movie and a disappointing second. The non-monster scenes are dull and repetitive, the animation has become less appealing, and even a "fight" between Godzilla and King Ghidorah (with a new look) proves surprisingly boring. Avoid at all costs, as Godzilla: The Planet Eater is about as far from a great anime movie as an animated Japanese movie could ever be.
36 'All Monsters Attack' (1969)
Director: Ishirō Honda
Of the classic Japanese Godzilla movies released between 1954 and 1975 (comprising the "Showa Era" of Godzilla), 1969's All Monsters Attack is easy to single out as a low point. The premise itself, while kid-focused, isn't awful, with it centering on a bullied child who bonds with Godzilla's son, Minilla, who's also being bullied.
However, the fact these interactions appear in dream sequences lowers much of the emotion that otherwise might be there. Furthermore, the vast majority of the monster scenes here are made up of archival footage from previous movies, making All Monsters Attack feel cheap, rushed, and a bit like a cash grab. Clip show episodes in TV series are often regarded as lowlights of any show they appear in, with very few exceptions, and All Monsters Attack disappoints in similar ways.
35 'Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle' (2018)
Director: Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita
Image via Toho Visual Entertainment
The second movie in the aforementioned Godzilla anime trilogy is admittedly better than the third... just. It's still not good; more so just a bit less boring, with this one featuring the continued war between humanity and Godzilla over Earth, and teasing a new take on famed Godzilla foe Mechagodzilla.
Yet it's not really Mechagodzilla. Here, the film introduces the ludicrous idea of "Mechagodzilla City," a huge mass of robotics and buildings that could be used to combat Godzilla. It sounds like it could be really goofy in a kind of fun way, but the movie doesn't have much fun with it, resulting in a strangely lifeless and tiring watch. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle isn't a good sci-fi movie and has little spectacle or impressive elements to offer, and should be avoided.
34 'Son of Godzilla' (1967)
Director: Jun Fukuda
Son of Godzilla marks a point within the overall Godzilla series ranking where the movies become, at worst, bearable. That's not to say that Son of Godzilla is great or even merely underrated; more just that it signifies being officially past the bad movies in the series, whereby an overall ranking can move on to bigger and better things.
It's the first appearance of Minilla, Godzilla's adopted son, who's one of the more divisive monsters in the series. The film's at its best when it focuses on the awkward bonding between Godzilla and this small, somewhat grotesque-looking monster, though viewers have to be aware going in that it is one of the series' goofiest and most child-friendly entries - in that way, Son of Godzilla feels more reminiscent of early-era Gamera movies than some of the more mature Godzilla films of the 1960s.
33 'Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters' (2017)
Director: Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita
close up of Godzilla in Planet of the Monsters
Image via Toho
Before films #2 and #3 crushed any hope of the Godzilla anime trilogy being good, its first film, Planet of the Monsters, at least showed glimmers of promise. It's at its best when it recounts what led to Godzilla taking over the planet in the prologue, with it then doing a serviceable job at introducing the conflict that (apparently) plays out across the rest of the trilogy, and as such, it has some things to offer in terms of offering interesting science fiction ideas and some solid action setpieces.
Planet of the Monsters isn't awful, but much of its enjoyment comes from the hope that it's building up things that will pay off. They never paid off, though, so it's ultimately not worth watching this mostly competent - if unremarkable - animated movie for the risk that it might make you waste time with the rest of the trilogy.
Release Date
January 17, 2018
Runtime
89 Minutes
Director
Hiroyuki Seshita, Kobun Shizuno
32 'Invasion of Astro-Monster' (1965)
Director: Ishirō Honda
During the Showa Era of Godzilla films, there was a tendency to capitalize on a successful movie with a follow-up right away. Usually, this involved bringing back certain characters the year after they were first seen, and though this could be fun, it rarely led to these sequels (of sorts) surpassing what came before, or feeling fresh. Given it was directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who made numerous Godzilla movies, it does deliver a certain amount of entertainment value.
So is the case with Invasion of Astro-Monster, a movie that hardcore fans of Godzilla will still enjoy, but outsiders may not find particularly enthralling. It brings back King Ghidorah just one year after his introduction, to slightly diminishing returns, but the film is still fun in places (most notably when Godzilla dances).
31 'Godzilla 2000: Millennium' (1999)
Director: Takao Okawara
Look, Godzilla 2000: Millennium isn't amazing, but compared to the miserable 1998 version of Godzilla that came out the year before, it felt like The Godfather (or Godzillafather?) Its title is also fitting, seeing as it ushered in the wild and unpredictable Millennium Era of Godzilla, which lasted from 1999 until 2004.
Anything would have looked good in comparison to the most recent theatrical Godzilla film, and so Godzilla 2000 plays things safe, having the title character exist as a force of nature and pitting him against a new monster called Orga in the final act. Godzilla 2000 is nothing earth-shattering, but as a giant monster movie, it gets the job done. Yes, it can be disappointing and some may find it to be close to a series nadir, but it benefits from looking much better compared to the Godzilla film from the previous year.
30 'Godzilla Raids Again' (1955)
Director: Motoyoshi Oda
Coming out just one year after the original Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again is notable for two main reasons. The first is that it's the only Godzilla film other than the original to be shot in black and white, and the second is that it's the first time Godzilla is pitted against another giant monster - here, it's series regular Anguirus.
For those reasons, it's an interesting and sometimes engaging sequel, but it does feel a little rushed and uninspired. It paved the way for future movies to be about more than just humanity vs. Godzilla, but also fell very short of measuring up to the first film. Definitely not bad, and maybe a little over-hated, but nothing too special, either. It's also interesting because it's one of the original Japanese Godzilla movies that got an English-language/American-produced re-edit, 1959's Gigantis, the Fire Monster.
29 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' (2019)
Director: Michael Dougherty
Godzilla Battles Kaiju
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
It's understandable why Godzilla: King of the Monsters has its supporters, and is generally seen by Godzilla fanatics as one of the better American takes on the character. It was the English-language debut for many of the series' most iconic monsters, after all, including King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan.
The effects are top-notch, and the movie does a great job of emphasizing the scale of the gigantic beasts, with their fight sequences generally being great. Unfortunately, at 132 minutes long, there's also a good deal of stuff here that isn't very good, with the human storyline/characters ultimately lacking. The best Godzilla films do tend to balance the human drama with the monster action better, and it's that aspect of King of the Monsters that lets it down a little... though it's still a solid chapter in the ongoing MonsterVerse saga.
Release Date
May 29, 2019
Runtime
132 minutes
Director
Michael Dougherty