Ranking the best Gojira/Godzilla films isn’t an easy task, both from a quantity and quality perspective. There are 38 films noted in the Godzilla franchise with the original film released in 1954 and the latest edition in 2024, a span of 70 years. If one excludes the 3 Animation films, then that total drops to 35. The production quality varies a lot among these films not only due to differences in production between Japanese and American studios but also due to multiple reboot/reset of the franchise. There are some films that stand-out while others have substandard production quality and are just derivative, reheated attempts of the original film. It is not a series that one can binge watch as some films in the franchise are unwatchable and after a while, many of them start appearing to be the same. There are some exceptions and it is those films that linger long in the memory.
There are 33 Gojira films from Japan divided in the Shōwa era (1954–1975), Heisei era (1984–1995), Millennium era (1999–2004), Reiwa era (2016–present) and 5 that are part of the American series. This total doesn’t include four films released in US that were re-edited versions of the original Japanese films. In addition, there is a recent spin-off series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters which is part of the American Monsterverse, a series that includes the Hollywood films from 2014 onwards.
Listing of all 38 films
Shōwa era (1954–1975)
1. Godzilla (1954, Ishirō Honda)
2. Godzilla Raids Again (1955, Motoyoshi Oda)
3. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962, Ishirō Honda)
4. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964, Ishirō Honda)
5. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964, Ishirō Honda)
6. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965, Ishirō Honda)
7. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966, Jun Fukuda)
8. Son of Godzilla (1967, Jun Fukuda)
9. Destroy All Monsters (1968, Ishirō Honda)
10. All Monsters Attack (1969, Ishirō Honda)
11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971, Yoshimitsu Ban)
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972, Jun Fukuda)
13. Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973, Jun Fukuda)
14. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974, Jun Fukuda)
15. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975, Ishirō Honda)
Heisei era (1989–1995)
16. The Return of Godzilla (1984, Kōji Hashimoto)
17. Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989, Kazuki Ōmori)
18. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991, Kazuki Ōmori)
19. Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992, Takao Ōkawara)
20. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993, Takao Ōkawara)
21. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994, Kenshō Yamashita)
22. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995, Takao Ōkawara)
Millennium era (1999–2004)
23. Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999, Takao Ōkawara)
24. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000, Masaaki Tezuka)
25. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001, Shūsuke Kaneko)
26. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002, Masaaki Tezuka)
27. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003, Masaaki Tezuka)
28. Godzilla: Final Wars (2004, Ryūhei Kitamura)
Reiwa era (2016–present)
29. Shin Godzilla (2016, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi)
30. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017, Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita)
31. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018, Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita)
32. Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018, Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita)
33. Godzilla Minus One (2023, Takashi Yamazaki)
Note: films 30, 31, 32 are all animation films.
Hollywood films
1. Godzilla (1998, Roland Emmerich)
2. Godzilla (2014, Gareth Edwards)
3. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019, Michael Dougherty)
4. Godzilla vs. Kong (2021, Adam Wingard)
5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024, Adam Wingard)
Re-edited films for US market, not included in the 38 film total
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)
Godzilla (1977)
Godzilla 1985 (1985)
Top 5 Godzilla Films
1. Godzilla (1954)
The original is still the template for all subsequent Godzilla films as elements in Ishirō Honda’s films are revisited, updated and even slightly improved in other films.
2. Shin Godzilla (2016)
An absolutely brilliant reboot that cleverly uses Gojira as a lens to demonstrate human logistics and problem solving.
3. Godzilla Minus One (2023)
If Shin Godzilla was about logistics and problem solving, Godzilla Minus One is using engineering to solve the very large Godzilla problem. In addition, the film also highlights the human impact on post WWII Japan in the aftermath of America’s atomic bomb drops.
4. Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)
Mothra is a key kaiju in Godzilla movies and her first appearance in the series also happens to be one of the most worthy films in the franchise.
5. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
Combines many components of the franchise with aliens, Ghidorah, Rodan.
Most family friendly Godzilla: Son of Godzilla
The franchise clearly was trying to make Godzilla appealing for younger kids by introducing a very cute young Baby Godzilla.
Most environmentally conscious film: Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Godzilla films contain political and social messaging but nowhere is that hit on the head as much as Godzilla vs Hedorah where Hedorah is a monster who grows by feeding off the industrial waste dumped in oceans. Only Godzilla can save us from our destructive polluting ways! If dumping of chemicals and industrial waste in oceans led to the creation of a monster, then perhaps humans may have done more to protect our environment. Unfortunately, life isn’t a Godzilla movie!
