Godzilla Movie Tournament

[Benjamin Haines]

You've gotta be shitting me. This is the definition of a blowout. It's the holy grail of Godzilla glory against a movie called "Godzilla" that doesn't present a monster approximating Godzilla. Even beyond that, Terror of Mechagodzilla does exactly everything better than GINO. Better characters, better music, better pacing, better monster action, it even does the soap opera romance plot better. Audrey deserved to die more than Katsura did.

I don't even hate GINO. Although not my first exposure to Godzilla, I saw it on the big screen at nine years old before I ever saw any of the Japanese films in their entirety and it motivated me to seek out the older movies. It's what made me a Godzilla fan. I can't watch it and not remember how much I loved it as a kid, but at the same time I can't not recognize just how very not Godzilla the titular creature is. I don't consider it a Godzilla movie because Godzilla isn't in it but I enjoy it as a goofy monster movie about a giant iguana. It's a B-movie, sure, but there are plenty of worse monster movies that I like for what they are because I dig giant monsters (Yongary, Gamera vs. Zigra, and Space Amoeba to name a few).

I think it would have been interesting to have seen how a match might have played out between GINO and Godzilla vs. Mothra or Spacegodzilla. I'd say GINO is a more competent film than either of those but both of them manage to do a better job of being Godzilla movies by presenting a monster that meets the basic fundamentals of looking and acting like Godzilla. I suppose GINO could end up facing Godzilla vs. Mothra in round 22 if it managed to win this game but It's no contest. Terror of Mechagodzilla reigns supreme.

[DannyBeane]

This round automatically goes to TOMG due to G98 forfeiting by not showing up to the ring.

[Gentleman]

[Jorzilla]

G98

[canofhumdingers]

[Gman2887]

[jellydonut25]

[Reaper G]

Should I bother voting for ToMG at this point?

[DannyBeane]

[MekaGojira3k]

Easily Terror of MechaGodzilla. MechaGodzilla/Titanosaurus + Compelling Human Drama/Cyborg Drama = Super entertaining flick!

[Gman2887]

Terror of MechaGodzilla wins 13 to 1.

Game 13:
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster VS. Son of Godzilla

[DannyBeane]

This is close because I love both movies. I think Kumonga and Kamakiras are stronger foes that Ebirah/Giant Condor. Also the Kong influence in the script does feel off for sea monster while the muskogoji suit and Minya suit are awful for SoG. At the end of the day though my vote goes to Sea Monster. The characters in this film are some of my favorite from the series. Also I loved the Red Bamboo. I wish they would have appeared in more films.
Sea Monster is my final answer.

[Reaper G]

Really tough, but I think a slight edge to SoG. Despite the shabbiness of the Godzilla suit, and the existence of Minya in general, everything else in this movie works -- characters, story, music, giant bugs, closing scene.

[canofhumdingers]

While I understand the fondness for SoG, and I do think it's a pretty good movie too, it's never been one of my favorites. Godzilla vs the Sea Monster, on the other hand, has long been one of my absolute favorites. No matter how many times I see it (which has been a lot since it was one of the first Godzilla films I owned as a kid), I never get tired of it. It's just great all around. And I've always loved ebirah. A giant shrimp just makes a really cool monster!

[Gentleman]

For me, Son of Godzilla takes this one easily. Sea Monster never really appealed to me. Kumonga creeped the hell out of me when I was a kid, and the Kamakiras had a special, evil quality about them that suited the movie well.

[H-Man]

I can't get into Son of Godzilla. But I think Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster is great fun, so that's my pick.

[Enjoying An Egg]

Son of Godzilla. I like the G'66 suit but the rest of Sea Monster is a little flat for me. SoG has great characters, a touching ending, and the awesome wirework of Kumonga.

[Psycho Soldier]

Sea Monster, though it's pretty close. I find them even in terms of characters, plot, and monsters, but I prefer SM's breezy, island/spy movie approach.

[XvGojira]

Son of Godzilla. The suit is ugly as sin but I loved the story and it's a childhood favorite.

[Gentleman]

I see a pattern here.

[Psycho Soldier]

[Jorzilla]

Sea monster

[Benjamin Haines]

This is the toughest call yet for me. These are two of my favorite Godzilla films and I rank them very closely to each other. I love how, despite both movies being directed by Jun Fukuda, scored by Masaru Sato, and set almost entirely on Pacific islands, they're really nothing alike. They're two wildly diverse stories with different assortments of character types, plot beats that don't even come close to paralleling each other, and seemingly two different target demographics (young adults vs. families). Props to the filmmakers for not rehashing the same movie over again in 1967.

I've got to go with Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster on this one. Nothing against Son of Godzilla at all; I just feel like Sea Monster is a little more ambitious and inventive. I find the way the film utilizes Mothra and Infant Island to be very inspired. Even though Mothra doesn't wake up until well into the third act, her presence is vital to moving the story forward and her brief encounter with Godzilla at the end is just fascinating to watch. You can tell he recognizes her and that he wants to fight, and that she just wants him to calm down and leave her alone so she can take care of the people she came to save. Godzilla's body language when Mothra grabs the net and leaves him there is one of those great kaiju character moments that the Showa Series has in droves. In any other context, featuring a fleeting kaiju encounter like that as the last 'monster battle' of a movie could have easily amounted to an anticlimax. Here, though, it works masterfully as a buffer between all of the action that makes up the third act (the Red Bamboo getting killed, Godzilla defeating Ebirah, our heroes getting away from the base) and Godzilla's last-minute escape from the island before the whole thing blows to smithereens, placing the film's climax and denouement squarely in that final scene.

Although I'm voting for Sea Monster, I want to say that I think both of these are fantastic and underrated Godzilla movies. Jun Fukuda brought such an invigorating spirit to these back-to-back island adventures. His contribution to the series was an integral part of what made the 1960s Godzilla's heyday.

[MekaGojira3k]

Both of these are really strong, and very nearly neck and neck. Really it's coming down to stuff like disliking the Musuko-Goji suit and Minya, but my vote goes to SEA MONSTER!
These are such fun films. Son of Godzilla is especially interesting and unique amongst the series. Still, as I said, I'm going for the fun of Sea Monster this particular round.

[klen7]

Yeh, tough call... but i go Sea Monster.