GODZILLA APPROACHES

I've always loved dinosaurs. When I was a child my Dad would take me to museums where I would precociously correct tour guides who misidentified their terrible lizards. I had books, toys, and spent an inordinate amount of time drawing them savaging each other. This coupled with a keen interest in alien robots probably prompted my Dad to tape Channel 4's late-night Godzilla screenings for me.

These marathons tended to revolve around the poppier, late-60s /early-70s entries, particularly those directed by Jun Fukuda. I was fascinated by them - men dressed as giant toys grappling with each other and stumbling over scale buildings. Armed with a Time Out film guide and a feature on the Big G in an early issue of Manga Mania, I discovered there were more than 20 of these films. I've always wanted to sit down and watch them all so, over Summer last year, I did.

Find below links to all my Godzilla reviews, ordered chronologically and listed by their official Toho title and, when applicable, the titles used when the film was originally distributed in the US and UK.

Toho Showa Series (1954 - 1975)

Godzilla (1954) dir. Ishiro Honda
Godzilla Raids Again / Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1955) dir. Motoyoshi Oda
King Kong vs Godzilla (1962) dir. Ishiro Honda
Mothra vs Godzilla / Godzilla vs the Thing (1964) dir. Ishiro Honda
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) dir. Ishiro Honda
Invasion of Astro-Monster / Monster Zero (1965) dir. Ishiro Honda
Godzilla vs the Sea Monster / Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) dir. Jun Fukuda
Son of Godzilla (1967) dir. Jun Fukuda
Destroy All Monsters (1968) dir. Ishiro Honda
All Monsters Attack / Godzilla's Revenge (1969) dir. Ishiro Honda
Godzilla vs Hedorah / Godzilla vs the Smog Monster (1971) dir. Yoshimitsu Banno
Godzilla vs Gigan / Godzilla on Monster Island (1972) dir. Jun Fukuda
Godzilla vs Megalon (1973) dir. Jun Fukuda
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla / Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster (1974) dir. Jun Fukuda
Terror of Mechagodzilla / The Terror of Godzilla (1975) dir. Ishiro Honda

Toho Heisei Series (1984 - 1995)

The Return of Godzilla (1984) dir. Koji Hashimoto
Godzilla vs Biollante (1989) dir. Kazuki Omari
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991) dir. Kazuki Omari
Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) dir. Takao Okawara
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993) dir. Takao Okawara
Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994) dir. Kensho Yamashita
Godzilla vs Destoroyah (1995) dir. Takao Okawara

Centropolis Entertainment / TriStar Pictures series (1998)

Godzilla (1998) dir. Roland Emmerich

Toho Millennium Series (1999 - 2004)

Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) dir. Takao Okawara
Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000) dir. Masaaki Tezuka
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) dir. Shusuke Kaneko
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) dir. Masaaki Tezuka
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) dir. Masaaki Tezuka
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) dir. Ryuhei Kitamura

Legendary Pictures / Toho Post-Millennium and Reiwa Series (2014 - 2021)

Godzilla (2014) dir. Gareth Edwards
Shin Godzilla (2016) dirs. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017) dirs. Hiroyuki Seshita and Kobun Shizuno
Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018) dirs. Hiroyuki Seshita and Kobun Shizuno
Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018) dirs. Hiroyuki Seshita and Kobun Shizuno
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) dir. Michael Dougherty

Godzilla Appears at Godzilla Fest (2020) dir. Kazuhiro Nakagawa (short)
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) dir. Adam Wingard

Godzilla vs Hedorah (2021) dir. Kazuhiro Nakagawa (short)