Top Movie Countdown reviews every Godzilla movie ever made, in order. In case you missed them, make sure to read Part 1 and Part 2, which covers Godzilla Part 1 through 8.
9. Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Score:
4.5
Destroy All Monsters is an awesome movie title. The movie itself doesn’t quite measure up to the fantastic name, though.
The majority of this entry into the Godzilla series focuses on some pesky aliens trying to take over the world by controlling Godzilla and his friends from Monster Island. Our human heroes will never surrender however, and find a way to fight back by taking out the alien base on the moon and then some other things happen that don’t really make sense but we suffer through it because we know at some point all of the monsters are going to team up.
There are a lot of monsters in this one too, and it takes quite a few of them to team up on Ghidorah (the three-headed dragon) and stomp him to death. As usual there are some awesome models that get destroyed and the last 10 minutes is pretty good but I find this entry mediocre at best.
10. All Monsters Attack (1969)
Score:
3.5
The 10th entry in the Godzilla series is pretty bad, but sometimes it falls into the ‘so-bad-its-good’ category and I found it to be a breezy film to watch.
At least there are no aliens this time. Instead we follow young Ichiro around as he encounters bullies and local criminals hiding out from the police. He keeps falling asleep and dreaming of Monster Island, where Minilla (Godzilla’s son) is also going through some growing pains as he tries to battle monsters just like his dad.
In the end Godzilla teaches him how to stand up to bullies and Ichiro learns the same lesson in order to win his own battles. Although, technically, it was all in his head and we never really went to Monster Island, did we?
11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Score:
4.5
Godzilla, the result of nuclear fallout, has battled monsters of all shapes and sizes. Some of them even from outer space. But now he must face his greatest enemy of all – pollution!
Hedorah is born from all the sludge and waste created by annoying humans who have no care for Mother Earth. We are reminded of this several times with a catchy theme song and several animations.
Hedorah is actually a pretty creepy monster and my seven year old daughter, who has been watching most of these Godzilla movies with me (and enjoying them), found Hedorah too much for her. I’m glad she stopped watching because about halfway in Hedorah starts melting those polluting humans down to the bone!
At one point the scientists in the film try to tell us that Hedorah really is an alien which has come to feed off our pollution but they never really explain it fully. It would have been better if it was just some weird mutation and natural occurrence like Godzilla. At any rate not even a pollution monster like Hedorah is immune from the power of electricity, and it is burned to a crisp.
This film also boasts one of the funniest moments in any of the Godzilla movies up to this point – Godzilla uses his atomic breath as a propellant, tucks his tail and flies! For that reason alone I bump the score of this installment from a 4 to a 4.5. Enjoy!
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Score:
6
Oh no, not aliens again! This time they are cockroaches from another planet sent here to establish peace… but actually to wipe out the human race and use the monsters to destroy us all!
How you ask? By playing some analog tapes, of course. Godzilla and Anguirus aren’t going to put up with that crap though, and with the help of their human friends they take down the cockroaches and save the planet once again.
I actually like this one better than the last few entries in this franchise – the human characters are more likable and the Tokyo destruction scenes are really good. Also, Godzilla and Anguirus talk to each other, which is hilarious. Plus, the main human hero is a comic book artist!
Ghidorah is being over-used at this point, but it is a flying dragon so I can’t complain too much. As far as Godzilla movies go, there is a lot to like in Godzilla vs Gigan.
Don’t stop now! There are more Godzilla reviews, click on to read Part 4>>