Your ALMOST favorite Godzilla movies

[eabaker]

We’ve all had ample opportunity to post in threads about our favorite and least favorite Godzilla movies, but, most of the time, those kinds of posts tend to be a little flat. We tend to talk about those movies in big, absolute terms, great walls of blanket praise or raw, vitriolic contempt. But what about those movies that we like, maybe even like A LOT, but can’t quite commit to loving? What about our… almost favorites?

I have a pretty solid concept of my top 10 Godzilla movies. The ordering may change, but there are 10 that I come back to any time I have to choose my very favorites. But every time I make that list, there are a few movies that I find myself surprised didn’t make the cut, maybe a little tempted to promote at the expense of something else. But… no, it never quite happens.

So, to start us off, here is a list of my almost favorite Godzilla movies.

Terror of Mechagodzilla – Alas, I’ve only ever been able to make room for one 70s flick in my top 10. I’m often tempted to take the title away from its current holder (if you’ve read many of my posts on this board, you can probably guess which movie takes it) and give it to the last bow of dear old Ishiro Honda. When discussing this movie, the two words that I find myself using almost every time are “elegiac” and “funereal.” I kinda love it specifically as an ending for the Showa era, because it is such a comment on the failure of everything Honda had sought to promote in the genre. But, for all that I am wild about its tone, think that Titanosaurus is a great monster, consider Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla’s big assault to be one of the best city destruction sequences in the genre, and even take a certain delight in Akihiko Hirata’s enthusiastic scenery-chewing… the pacing is wonky, the initial Godzilla/Titanosaurus fight is frustratingly underdeveloped, the final battle grows tedious and is ultimately pretty anticlimactic, and I just cannot bring myself to care about Ichinose in the slightest.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah – Apparently dark n’ mournful goes pretty far with me… but not quite far enough. On more than one occasion, this one has actually drawn tears from me, because that ending stabs right into my Godzilla-lovin’ heart. Godzilla’s agony is palpable in this movie. I also think Destoroyah is a genuinely menacing villain - I particular like the crab form, but the lumbering Satan of a final form is my favorite big bulky 90s opponent - and would easily rank Junior as my favorite young Godzilla design. And there are some character and thematic concepts that I really dig; Shinichi, the callow genius who dares to suggest resurrecting the Oxygen Destroyer, offers a ton of narrative and thematic potential, as does the pairing of Miki with the less experienced Meru, but the whole “younger generation” aspect of the story just doesn’t go anywhere. Sure, Shinichi is willing to suggest something verboten among his elders, but… then Destoroyah shows up, and it doesn’t matter. Sure, Meru is willing to endanger Junior where Miki objects, but… then Miki relents, just like she always does, so why did we need Meru? The whole thing is a collection of really good dead ends, that ends in one really good death.

Godzilla 2000 – To me, this one really comes down to the central character trio of Shinoda, Miyasaka and Katagiri. Honestly, there aren’t very many post-Showa Godzilla movies where I can even remember the names of all of the central characters off the top of my head, so that tells you something right there. I think the dynamic among those three characters probably could have been explored across a trilogy, with a little more credence granted at times to Katagiri’s perspective, in order to keep Miyasaka believably on the fence. I even like the Shinoda/Io/Yuki interactions, and wouldn’t mind seeing more of how those relationships developed over time. But, boy is the Orga storyline mishandled. While we’re getting all of that interesting character stuff set up, the monster elements are crawling along at a snail’s pace, and then, in the finale, the human story doesn’t really pay off in much of anything, and we’re expected to be riveted by a battle between Godzilla and some creature that’s only just formed before us, after spending most of the movie as a hovering spaceship. By spreading Orga’s development over the movie more evenly, giving it multiple escalating confrontations with Godzilla, and giving the characters a more ideologically interesting wrap-up (maybe one in which Miyasaka has to play an active role in the fate of the monsters, and in the process must absolutely choose his allegiance to either Shinoda or Katagiri), they could have given us a minor kaiju masterpiece.

[Jorzilla]

My favorite rotation is usually:

Godzilla (1954)- I appreciate the significance of the film. I know it's culturally relevant and spawned the franchise. I just don't actually ENJOY myself when watching this film. It's much to melodramatic for my tastes. I think a lot of people, including myself tend to put this movie on a pedestal, but at the same time I can't bring myself to rank it lower. I appreciate the film, but I largely don't find it that entertaining.

Godzilla vs. Biollante- I really like this movie and the post-Godzilla world. It's kind of a 'smart' dumb-action-movie which means it can never truly be GREAT. I wish the fights were longer/more significant.

Mothra vs. Godzilla- This movie really sealed the deal on the vs. format for Godzilla movies even more so than KKvG. I really like the anti-corporate-greed message. However, the movie can really drag its feet in certain areas and the Shobijin are slightly annoying.