This is the one that started it all. There is an Americanized version, Godzilla, King of Monsters, but I watched the OG film. Since I last saw this when I was a kid, I didn't catch that this was supposed to be an allegory for nuclear war. Now that I've watched it again as an adult, I was surprised at how dark it was. I watched this in January 2024.

This sequel was released only 6 months after the original. I found it to be meandering. I feel like there were two competing story lines, one about a love triangle and one about monsters. The film opens with Godzilla's iconic roar, which is pretty cool. We're introduced to a new kaiju - Anguirus, an anklyosaur-looking creature - as he is fighting Godzilla on a rocky island in one of the quietest kaiju fights I've ever watched. Definitely used to a lot more roaring during kaiju fights. Godzilla was killed in the first film but there are apparently more Godzillas that have been created/awakened by nuclear testing. And other flavors of kaiju, hence Anguirus. When the monsters fight it looks oddly frenetic and that's because a cameraman accidentally filmed in fast motion. In this film Godzilla meets his end by being buried under a snow avalanche but considering it took an oxygen destroyer to get rid of the first one, I think Japan should be aware there are more kaiju in their future.

I found this Japanese subbed version on YouTube. While the first 2 movies were about the dangers of nuclear war, this one takes a poke at consumerism. Kong and Godzilla meet through a convoluted set-up. An American nuclear submarine crashes into an iceberg which releases Godzilla. Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company executive sends a team to an island to bring back the monster (Kong) living on the island - because it will create good TV ratings and therefore be good for sales? I think we're just supposed to go with it and not think too hard about the details. The island scene is racist and cringey but also, I think, a product of its time. There is a romantic subplot, as in the other movies. Kong is a goofy-ass looking monster although Godzilla is looking pretty legit. Fight scenes are very WWE-reminiscent. Also - bonus giant octopus trying to eat some islanders. Watched April 2024.

I was able to find this Japanese subbed version on YouTube. Going into this movie, I did not realize that Mothra had already had her own movie and the Japanese were already familiar with her. I was wondering why they were so casual about another monster on the scene and just put it down to kaiju-fatigue. Much like the previous movie, this one also takes a look at greed and capitalism but also has a message that we should be working together to make a better world. This was an excellent film with a more serious tone than the previous one.

We don't have a weird, tacked on love story as we did in previous films although we do have a weird situation where there is a random teacher with a group of kids who need to be rescued from an island where Godzilla and Mothra's offspring are having a showdown. It felt tacked on and unnecessary. The scenes with the native islanders on Infant Island (where Mothra and her spokespeople twins are from) aren't bad like the "native" scenes in King Kong vs Godzilla. The fight scene between the shady businessmen was surprisingly graphic and brutal. The miniatures effects were very nicely done.

Watched May 2024.

I watched this Japanese subbed version on YouTube. In addition to Ghidora and Godzilla, we also meet Rodan (who has previously had his own movie) and Mothra returns. At the start of the movie, everyone is complaining about the heatwave the country is undergoing in January. I really felt this as on the day I watched the film we hit 117F (47C). I mean, it's June but that's still intense, even where I'm at. Anyway, there are 2 plot lines - there is a meteor storm and a UFO society looking for aliens and also a princess from a small, fake country coming to Japan to hide out in order to escape a threat on her life.

I think Rodan is the first one that appears. Apparently in his own film he was buried in a volcano? So in this film, volcanic disturbances cause earth shifting which unburies him. Godzilla awakens, bursting up from the ocean and incinerating an innocent ship. They end up meeting and going after each other, destroying the Japanese countryside in the process. Meanwhile, Ghidorah appears from one of the meteors that fell to earth and he also starts wreaking havoc. I have to say, he is one sexy Kaiju. I mean, the other monsters have tended to look kind of goofy but he is looking good! He's very sleek, his heads are nicly shaped, no derpy looking eyes. Aside from the unexpectedly good-looking kaiju, the miniatures work in this film is just beautiful.

The fairy twins from Infant Island have been on the mainland to be on a TV show (don't ask). They ask Mothra (who is currently in larval form but can still spit webbing) to come to the mainland to try to reason with Godzilla and Rodan because only all three of them working together will be able to defeat Ghidorah. What follows is a pretty amazing conversation between the monsters, with Mothra being the voice of reason and Godzilla and Rodan apparently just wanting to get back to fighting each other. Godzilla doesn't want to help because the humans are always bullying him. Rodan is also not interested in fighting off Ghidora in order to help the humans. Mothra gives up on them and ends up squirming after Ghidorah on her own. The other two relent and join the fight and all three don't defeat Ghidorah so much as drive him off. He'll be back.

Oh, yeah, there was stuff about the princess who was saved from the mid-air plane explosion by an ancient Venusian (or Martian, depending on which version you're watching) spirit and who tries to warn people about Ghidorah before he appears. There are thugs from her small, fake country trying to get her, there is a cop/reporter brother/sister duo. There's a lot going on!

I was wondering if Ghidorah represented something but I couldn't find anything in movie or web reviews about that. Well, except for one site that claimed he represented fears of satellite technology. Not sure how that connection was made and I think that was just one person's theory since I didn't see it anywhere else. This is the first movie that gave Godzilla some characterization other than rampaging chaos. He is reluctantly helping humankind, but only because it also benefits him. I am reminded of when I was watching the Monarch Legacy series they said that even though he was destructive, Godzilla was actually helping us by keeping the other titans in their world. He is a dangerous friend. Kind of. Maybe more the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

Watched June 2024.