I marathoned every theatrically released Godzilla and King Kong movie. My overall thoughts on this experience.

[Armagon]

Honestly, i never saw myself becoming a Godzilla fan. My introduction to the series was Godzilla 2014, which wasn't the best Godzilla movie to start with. But i was 14 at the time so i didn't think too much of it. I wouldn't watch another Godzilla movie again until King of the Monsters and i didn't even see that one in theaters. King of the Monsters was fantastic and after doing this marathon, i can call it a top 5 Godzilla film but we'll talk about that later.

It was King of the Monsters along with Kong: Skull Island that prompted me to embark on a great journey: to watch every theatrically released Godzilla and King Kong film. In this marathon, i also included the Rodan and Mothra solo movies on account of Rodan and Mothra being part of the "Godzilla Big 5". It's also why i chose not to watch the unrelated Kaiju movies such as Varan or War of the Gargantuans, even if some of these unrelated movies would eventually become minor canon within specific Godzilla continuities.

While i didn't go in any particular order (especially for the Millenium era, where most of the movies are self-contained), i did watch each movie in each era in order for the most part. The exceptions are Millenium (as i've mentioned), Reiwa, where i watched Shin Godzilla early on before having to get the anime trilogy over with, and Showa, where my first movie with that era was King Kong vs Godzilla, followed by the original 1954 film and Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, before choosing to go back and watching Godzilla Raids Again and Mothra vs Godzilla before continuing the Showa era in order. I also took occasional breaks to watch movies outside of Godzilla but still related to this marathon. Every once in a while, i would turn on a King Kong movie. I *really* didn't go in order with these but i made the good decision of doing King Kong 2005 early on, due to how long it was. I also watched the original Mothra and Rodan movies during these small breaks, though the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy was saved until near the very end.

And now it's time for my general impressions. I'll start with King Kong first, as there are only eight movies at the moment (one of which is simultanously a Godzilla movie)

King Kong: The original 1933 movie is one of the most famous movies of all time and it's what really introduced the Kaiju genre into the spotlight (even if Kong himself is very small for a Kaiju in most of his incarnations). For the longest time, i just thought they went with the rubber suit route that Godzilla movies go but i was genuinaly surprised to see that there was actually a lot of stop-motion used. I'm not a movie expert, i'm not sure what the techniques for shooting a movie during the 1930s was but i was very impressed. Similar to how Godzilla's character would change over time, i was intrigued by Kong's shift in character as well. In his original incarnation, Kong was a pure antagonist but he became more of a tragic hero later on.

Son of Kong: This one technically doesn't have Kong in it but it has his son and it's a direct sequel so it counts. A movie that not as many people know exists, I actually liked this one more than it's predeccesor. It tackles the one thing that the other King Kong movies fail to anwser (i'm not counting King Kong vs Godzilla, King Kong Escapes or Skull Island as those are very different from the traditional King Kong story and they feature actually Kaiju-sized versions of Kong): the consequences of bringing Kong to New York. Carl Denhiem, the main protagonist of the original film is actually in a tough spot after everything that happened and the movie is about him coming to terms that he fucked up while trying to find a way to fix it.

King Kong vs Godzilla: This movie's good. The Kong suit in this one (as well as King Kong Escapes, the other Toho-produced King Kong movie) is ugly as sin but it was the 60s. It's the first time Kong is made to be the hero, especially as this was still in the time where Godzilla was the villain. It's fun Kaiju-brawling action and i hope the upcoming Godzilla vs Kong is anywhere near as good. I better see Kong shove a tree into Godzilla's mouth, damn it.

King Kong Escapes: This movie's probably the weirdest King Kong movie. Apart from the suit, there's nothing connecting this movie to King Kong vs Godzilla (though one of the smaller Kaiju in this movie, Gorosauros, does show up in Destory All Monsters). In this movie, Kong has to face off against Mechani-Kong. Yeah, you heard that right. There is an official mechanical version of King Kong. So not only did King Kong predate Godzilla but his mechanical counterpart predated MechaGodzilla. Also, the human villain in this movie is named Dr.Who, not to be confused with the Time-Lord from BBC's Doctor Who. This movie came out a few years after Doctor Who began airing so uh, looks like Toho's gotta pay up.

King Kong 1976 and King Kong Lives: I'm grouping these together because i don't feel like talking about them. These movies are shit. King Kong 1976 is a vastly inferior retelling of the original story. It tried to be all enviornmental about it, which makes sense given the time but the movie forgot to be, you know, good. 1976 has the most lifeless version of Skull Island. Even the original 1933 version felt more alive. The sequel to 1976, King Kong Escapes, was released 10 years later and the entire movie is based on a retcon. Everyone knows King Kong dies at the end of the original story. In 1976, he falls of the Twin Towers (not the Empire State building, which is another thing they got wrong) and you literally hear his heart stop beating. He appearently survived that i guess and the movie we got from that also wasn't good.

King Kong 2005: This one here is the definitive version of the King Kong story. It's directed by the Lord of the Rings dude, Peter Jackson. The CGI holds up very well and this one really fleshes out the original movie's characters. But the movie's also long as shit. It's over three hours long and i promise you, it did not need to be that long.

Kong: Skull Island: This one's my favorite out of all the King Kong movies. A brand new take on Kong that we hadn't really seen since Escapes (i am NOT counting Lives), we finally got to see a proper Kaiju-sized Kong in an American film. This version of Kong's character is incredibly badass, my favorite incarnation of the character. I really like it when Kong feels like more than just a big ape, which is something only this and the two Toho-produced King Kong movies managed to do.

And now i will talk about Godzilla. I'm gonna do a quickfire round here and talk about my general impressions with each of the eras because there are *a lot* of Godzilla movies.

Showa era: The era that started it all and also the cheesiest. The original Godzilla film is very important and a must watch. The sequel, Godzilla Raids Again, not so much. That was the movie that began Godzilla's monster-fighting career but it wasn't exactly a great start. But from King Kong vs Godzilla to Terror of MechaGodzilla, the movies in this era are for the most part consistent. It rises and drops here and there and two of my top three, Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla and Godzilla vs Megalon, can be found here. But the Showa era also has some bad movies such as Son of Godzilla, the already mentioned Godzilla Raids Again and the awful All-Monsters Attack, which is one of the worst movies in the franchise. The original Rodan movie is also kinda bad but i'd say still watch it if you want to see Rodan's origins.

Honestly, the best part of the Showa era is how cheesy the movies can get. Apart from a select few, i feel like the movies in the era can be easily enjoyed by most.

Heisei era: If Godzilla was a superhero in the Showa-era, then he became an anti-hero in this era. The Heisei era follows a different continuity to Showa, with only the original movie being canon. The Heisei era also has a thematic tie across it's movies that i really like: most of Godzilla's foes are related to him somehow. Biollante and SpaceGodzilla were created by Godzilla's cells. MechaGodzilla is self-explanatory and Destoroyah is the physical embodiment of the Oxygen Destroyer, the same weapon that was used to kill the original Godzilla way back in 1954. The Heisei era is a lot more consistent in quality than the Showa era. In fact, it's the most consistent out of all the Godzilla eras. Yeah it rises and falls a bit but none of the movies in this era are actually bad apart from The Return of Godzilla, which started the Heisei era. Some do feel weak in comparsion but i'm still fine with calling 6 out of the 7 movies here good. The Heisei era also has my third favorite Godzilla movie, Godzilla vs Destoroyah.

The Heisei era also has the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, which are the only other solo Mothra movies since the original 1961 film. These are fun.

Millenium era: Millenium era is a very mixed bag in my opinion. The first three movies are bad. I am of course, refering to Godzilla 98, 2000 and Godzilla vs Megaguirius. Now technically, Godzilla 98 is neither part of the Heisei or the Millenium series. Godzilla vs Destoroyah was the finale for Heisei and Toho didn't intend to make another Godzilla until 2004, the 50th anniversary of the franchise. But Godzilla 98 happened and it fucked with the image of Godzilla so bad that Toho had to bring back Godzilla to restore faith in fans. Godzilla 98 was directed by Roland Emmerich btw, the same guy who directed the widely beloved Independence Day. How do you go from one of the greatest movies of all time to Godzilla 98?

Anyways, the movies that followed, Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs Megaguirius are bad. They are very boring and forgettable. But eventually Toho pulled through with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Mouthful of a name, which is why everyone just calls it GMK. That movie's also very interesting because it's the only movie where Godzilla is genuianly malevolent and the only movie where Ghidorah is the good guy. Toho then put out another banger with Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla, which probably has the best human element out of any Godzilla movie on account of it being the most personal. A shame it's sequel, Tokyo S.O.S, failed to follow up on that. But despite the Millenium era's mixed quality, it did go out with a bang. Godzilla: Final Wars is raw and i made the very good decision of saving this movie for last. Final Wars is best enjoyed after seeing every Godzilla movie that came before it. It's also extremely anime, way more anime than the Godzilla anime trilogy, which i'll talk about soon.

Reiwa era: The Millenium era was a mixed bag but it was nowhere near as bad as the Reiwa era. But let me make something clear: the Reiwa era could've been much better if there were more movies. Reiwa actually had a good start. Shin Godzilla is pretty good movie and it has arguably the scariest incarnation of Godzilla. And for you anime fans, Shin Godzilla was directed by Mr. Evangelion himself, Hideaki Anno. Now if only the rest of the Reiwa era could be anywhere near as good. Because what came next was the Godzilla anime trilogy. I'm honestly surprised Toho greenlit these considering how protectful they are of their IP. Only the last movie in the trilogy, The Planet Eater, resembles a Godzilla movie and that wasn't enough to save it. The Godzilla anime trilogy is the worst the franchise has to offer by far.

MonsterVerse: After the negative reception of Godzilla 98, America wouldn't produce another Godzilla movie until until 2014 with Godzilla......2014. Directed by Gareth Edwards, who i recently learned also directed Rouge One, Godzilla 2014 is a way better interpretation of the character than 98 but one thing holds it back.....it holds back on Godzilla. It could've been a lot better if it didn't shy away from Godzilla's fights every chance it gets. Not the worst movie but not good. But there are two moments that are raw in this movie: Godzilla's enterance at the airport and the fatality he does on the MUTO. And because i already talked about Kong: Skull Island, i will go ahead and talk about King of the Monsters. No lie, King of the Monsters is in the top 5. Yeah it has it's flaws but the movie was made with so much love for the franchise. It probably has the best soundtrack out of any Godzilla movie and it's one of the few movies that has a good number of songs that i'd listen to outside the movie (movies in general lack consistently good OSTs unless it's like, Star Wars). I really like what they did with the Kaiju here. Godzilla is badass, Rodan and Mothra look awesome and King Ghidorah is the most menacing he's ever been. In fact, apart from Mothra (i like the "transformed" version that appears in Rebrith of Mothra 3 the most), King of the Monsters has my favorite incarnations of these Kaiju. I hesitate to call the MonsterVese consistently good because even though there's currently only three movies and two of them are good, it's still a very small number. Time will tell how Godzilla vs Kong ends up but i'm am looking forward to it.

If i had to rank the eras on overall quality consistency, it'd be: Heisei > Showa >> Millenium >>> Reiwa.
Again, i really don't know where to rank the MonsterVerse yet. It's currently the shortest era but it's also ongoing. I'll have a clearer picture once Godzilla vs Kong comes out.

But i do have the individual movie rankings. Ranked from best to worst:

 

And for those who'd appreciate a more specific way of ranking

 

[Jotari]

Could you maybe use black text? Genuinely interested in reading. But not enough to copy and paste and colour change it.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Jotari

[Armagon]

3 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Could you maybe use black text? Genuinely interested in reading. But not enough to copy and paste and colour change it.

I got hit with the captcha when I submitted originally and that I usually means I can't go back and edit.

But I do have the twitlonger version so you can just click here and read it. Everything's the same apart from the images I posted.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I got hit with the captcha when I submitted originally and that I usually means I can't go back and edit.

But I do have the twitlonger version so you can just click here and read it. Everything's the same apart from the images I posted.

In my experience the being unable to edit glitch has nothing at all to do with the captcha. Captcha's tend to pop up in very long posts or ones that have a lot of images/links.