You may have heard, at some point in the last 70+ years, thatGodzilla, as a series, is kind of a big deal. The first movie came out in 1954, and while it didn’t come up with the idea of making a film revolving around a giant monster, ittackled such a concept with a degree of seriousness and horror that was admirable for its time, and still makes the film hit hard when watched today. Its sequels, by and large, were a little more light-hearted, but replaced the solemness with action and, more often than not, other giant monsters for its titular one to fight.
The sheer number ofGodzillamovies makes him more than worthy of holding the title of king of the monsters, withnumerous releases in the 1970s,1990s,2000s,and even the 2010shelping to keep him relevant. Going back to the 1960s is interesting, though, because that’s whenGodzillareally started to develop and find its identity as a series, given the 1950s only saw the release of two films: the original, and then 1955’sGodzilla Raids Again. All eight movies featuring the king of the monsters released in the 1960s are ranked below, starting with the forgettable and ending with the iconic.
8’All Monsters Attack' (1969)
Directed by Ishirō Honda
The only truly irredeemableGodzillamovie from the 1960s isAll Monsters Attack, as it’s one thatkind of taints the legacy of the series, to some extent. It’s best ignored entirely, especially if you’re watching the series in order and have seen everyGodzillamovie made before 1969. Everything that might be good here, if you haven’t seen those films, is just repurposed footage from older movies. Much of it plays out like a feature-lengthGodzillaclip show.
It’s very kid-focused, withthe plot here involving a human kid and Godzilla’s son, Minilla, forming an odd kind of bond through dreams the former has. The kid dreams about stock footage a great deal, it turns out, with pretty much allthe action here being from earlier movies. This makesAll Monsters Attackvery boring, and also particularly frustrating if you don’t particularly like the character of Minilla, because most of the “original” stuff focusing on the monster side of things just features scenes with him.
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7’Son of Godzilla' (1967)
Directed by Jun Fukuda
The bad news regardingSon of Godzillais that it, likeAll Monsters Attack, features Minilla quite prominently, but the good news is that even then, it’s still a good deal better than that aforementioned 1969 movie.All Monsters Attackfelt cobbled together and a bit like a quick cash grab,whereasSon of Godzilla– while still being a bit kiddish and plodding at times – does function more like an actualGodzillamovie,and certainly has its moments; just enough to make it worthwhile for fans of the series.
As you might have guessed from the title,Son of Godzillais all about Godzilla getting an adopted son, clashing with him a great deal at first (that stuff is pretty hilarious) before eventually accepting him, even though he is super ugly and clumsy. It’s also hard to be too critical of a moviewhen it contains a scene like this, as the infamous rock fight is weirdly iconic.
6’Ebirah, Horror of the Deep' (1966)
The titular Ebirah isa pretty under-utilizedGodzillafoe overall. Sure, it might not be one of the greatest or most iconic monsters that Godzilla has gone up against, but Ebirah at least looks distinctive and was neat enough to be a title monster, featured in 1966’sEbirah, Horror of the Deep. “Horror” might be overstating it a little, with the alternate title ofGodzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: Great Duel in the South Seasbeing both cooler and more fitting.
The wacky plot here sees bad guys controlling a giant crustacean monster for their inevitably nefarious purposes, and both Godzilla and Mothra in turn being the only ones who can save the day. LikeSon of Godzilla, it was directed byJun Fukuda,whoseGodzillafilms from the 1960s don’t quite stack up to most of the ones Ishirō Honda directed… the exception, naturally, beingAll Monsters Attack. Thanks to that film, Honda was responsible for directing the worstGodzillamovie of the 1960s, alongside, of course, the five best ones.
5’Invasion of Astro-Monster' (1965)
Similar to what happened with Mechagodzilla in the 1970s, King Ghidorah proved to bean iconic enough rival monster for Godzillathat he appeared as the central antagonist in two movies, back-to-back. The second (and lesser) of those wasInvasion of Astro-Monster, which has a plot involving a mysterious alien race contacting Earth and offering to make it worth humanity’s while if they’re willing to “lend” the alien race Godzilla and Rodan.
Aliens inGodzillamovies generally aren’t to be trusted, though, and betrayal is inevitable… perhaps, so is a return of Ghidorah.It feels a bit like a retread of the previous movie in the series, butInvasion of Astro-Monsterstill mostly works as kaiju entertainment. It’s also well-remembered for a short sequence that involvesGodzilla performing a victory dance, and come on, that’s hard to resist.
4’King Kong vs. Godzilla' (1962)
There are flaws to be found inKing Kong vs. Godzilla, sure, but it’s also easy to forgive many of them when the movie foregrounds a battle between two legendary movie monsters. Like with 2021’sGodzilla vs. Kong, 1962’sKing Kong vs. Godzillamight bemore of aKing Kongmoviethan aGodzillaone, but that’s perhaps understandable when one considers the first Godzilla movie had only been around for eight years at this point, while King Kong’s history dated back almost 30 years.
All that matters is that inKing Kong vs. Godzilla, King Kong fights Godzilla, andthe big showdown remains fun to watchto this day. It’s also noteworthy for being the firstGodzillamovie (of many) to feature the word “vs.” in its title, and for also being the first entry in the series to be shot in color.
King Kong vs. Godzilla
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3’Mothra vs. Godzilla' (1964)
Like withKing Kong vs. Godzilla, 1964’sMothra vs. Godzillasaw the king of the monsters surprisingly getting second billing in the title.Mothra had been introduced just three years earlierin her own solo movie, but for whatever reason was deemed worthy of being the first monster mentioned in the title here (possibly because Mothra’s the hero here, come to think of it). Things changed in the 1990s, though, because 1992 saw the release of the similarly-titledGodzilla vs. Mothra, the names now swapped.
Anyway, with 1964’sMothra vs. Godzilla, it has the two monsters squaring off, which is odd to see nowadays, considering they’re usually allies. Also, after this point, Godzilla stopped being a villain during the Showa era, because here,Mothra is positioned as the one who needs to stop Godzilla from causing potential damage and death. It’s solid, and does pretty much everything you’d want a kaiju movie from the 1960s to do.
Mothra vs. Godzilla
Mothra’s egg washes ashore and is claimed by greedy entrepreneurs who refuse to return it to her fairies. As Godzilla arises near Nagoya, the people of Infant Island must decide if they are willing to answer Japan’s own pleas for help.
2’Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster' (1964)
Coming out the same year asMothra vs. Godzilla, and preceding the aforementionedInvasion of Astro-Monster,Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monsterwas pivotal forproviding King Ghidorah an appropriately grand entranceinto theGodzillaseries. Godzilla doesn’t even get to be in the title here, but is positioned in a more heroic role than in earlier films, battling Ghidorah alongside both Mothra and Rodan.
This was an important film in turning Godzilla from a villain to more of a hero, andit was also the largest-scale monster rumble in the series to date, benefitting greatly from showcasing several monsters within the one film.Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monsterthereby created something of a blueprint for many other Showa era films to follow, perhaps being the second-most important film ofGodzilla’s first era, as a result (after only the 1954 original, of course).
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
1’Destroy All Monsters' (1968)
Yet for as good asGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monsterwas,Destroy All Monsterswas even better, when judged both asan all-out monster-festand as just a Godzilla film, plain and simple. It is a movie thatpretty much goes for broke, and though it would’ve been sad for the series to end here,Destroy All Monsterswould at least have been a fitting send-off forGodzilla, had they not made any others.
In a premise that feels similar tothe even more gonzoGodzilla: Final Wars(2004),Destroy All Monstersrevolves around numerous monsters getting released and causing havoc across Earth. Aliens end up being behind it all, and things turn around once their plan is revealed and subsequently thwarted.Along the way, plenty of iconic monsters get to show up, and it allconcludes with a massively fun set piece. Call it all a bit silly if you want, but it’s also hard to deny thatDestroy All Monstersis a ton of fun.
Destroy All Monsters
At the end of the 20th century, all of Earth’s monsters have been safely rounded up and sent to Monsterland for scientific study. Chaos erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleashes the monsters on the world.
