Best Era of Godzilla

[NK1988]

So I grew up with old VH Ses from my friends of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and some others. I also remember Sci-Fi once had a marathon that was nothing but Showa Godzilla.

Of course, at the time, I had no idea it was Showa Godzilla. It was just Godzilla to me. It would be many years before I learned about the different Toho Godzilla Continuities. It does explain why I didn't much take to some of the other Godzilla movies I tried to rent. They felt too...different from what I had grown up with. They weren't "my" Godzilla so i didn't like them.

But I'm older now and a bit wiser. I still hav ea great nostalgic love for Classic Godzilla. But it does seem to me a lot of people don't much care for the era, or consider it So Bad, It's Good.

This is all just my vague general assumption though. So to clarify and learn more I made this topic. I want to start expanding my Godzilla horizons, starting with a thorough re-watch of Showa Godzilla now I'm older and all that. Then I'll move onto Hieisei which I get the feeling is a lot of people's favorites. And then there's the...Millennium Era I believe?

But which do people here prefer and why?

[Goggindowner]

Early Showa era produced more of my favorites than any other time period, and then a few at the end with Gigan and Mechagodzilla. I haven't ever seen very much of the Heisei era stuff, but what I have seen I didn't really enjoy. I definitely prefer the classics.

The Millennium series was just okay. The special effects got better, but by the standards of special effects in their time were still pretty awful, and I didn't like that every movie in the Millennium era was a direct sequel to the original 1954 movie, with only one exception that I can think of.

[fmvgamer]

Yeah , almost every movie in the Millennium series was like having their own continuity except for the 2003 & 2004 movie involving mecha godzilla. I loved that 2003/2004 design of mecha godzilla .

[The Chou Lives]

For me Early Showa is the best.

Heisei is weird in that it has two time lines in itself.

And as mentioned Milennium just did their own thing with each movie except the third Mecha Godzilla and Tokyo SOS after it.

[fmvgamer]

I did loved the 2001 GMK movie as it's directed by Kaneko (the maker of the heisei gamera trilogy series which was arguably the best monster trilogy of all). GMK was the only movie that i know of that has king ghidorah as the good monster.

[The Chou Lives]

I did loved the 2001 GMK movie as it's directed by Kaneko (the maker of the heisei gamera trilogy series which was arguably the best monster trilogy of all). GMK was the only movie that i know of that has king ghidorah as the good monster.

Ohhh Hell yes. Heisei Gamera was awesome. Completely and utterly awesome.

[NK1988]

So which role do you prefer Godzilla to play?
Hero?
Villain?
Anti-Hero?

I ask this because I think he became more heroic in early Showa... He was definitely a hero by late Showa.
I grew up with late Showa like Mechagodzilla and Smog Monster/Hedorah so even if he didn't originate that way, I always picture Big G as an out-and-out good guy. I can't imagine him as a bad guy... Apparently the Heisei films kept him more antagonistic.

I have no idea what 2014 did with him.

[fmvgamer]

Well , the late 60s showa godzilla era was more comedic and child friendly , what with the introduction of the son of godzilla , minilla (who the heck is the mother anyway ?)and of course , monster island where all the earth monsters hang out.

Honestly , any monster that can cause huge destruction whenever they appear could hardly be called "hero".

[Goggindowner]

So which role do you prefer Godzilla to play?
Hero?
Villain?
Anti-Hero?

I ask this because I think he became more heroic in early Showa... He was definitely a hero by late Showa.
I grew up with late Showa like Mechagodzilla and Smog Monster/Hedorah so even if he didn't originate that way, I always picture Big G as an out-and-out good guy. I can't imagine him as a bad guy... Apparently the Heisei films kept him more antagonistic.

I have no idea what 2014 did with him.

Anti-hero to villainous would be my preference. In fact, one of my hang ups about the 2014 reboot was his portrayal as a force for good or balance. I like a Godzilla that is the baddest mother on the block and will fight other monsters just to prove it.

[Angilasman]

The Golden Age of Godzilla, and kaiju in general, was the 1960s. No era has outmatched this one in regards to fun, interesting, inventive films. Godzilla went from villian, to anti-hero, to hero - although always a tentative hero, just as ready to smash us as to save us from the baddies. Most of the best Godzilla foes were introduced. This was also the most prolific era of the series as it was at the height of its popularity. The best 'straight' Godzilla sequel, Mothra vs. Godzilla (frequently considered the best) was released the same year as the (in my opinion) funniest Godzilla sequel, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, which was followed a year later by the Star Trek-like sci-fi film, Invasion of Astro Monster. There was a lot of variety in these movies!

Special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya was a stickler for detail, but more inclined towards the fanciful than toward realism, and this decade has the most striking visuals of the series. I don't care how sophisticated special effects become, things like scene composition are timeless. Look at the rather humdrum shots of Godzilla in many '90s and '00s films compared to the usually dynamic shots of the '60s. Ishiro Honda, the first and greatest Godzilla director, directed most of the films during this period, while action director Jun Fukuda brought his lighter touch to two installments. Most of the films during this period were written by Shinichi Sekizawa, a wonderfully creative guy who would warp the series from simple sci-fi to genre mash-ups that combined action, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, musicals, and various movie genres. For instance, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster is heavily inspired by the Audrey Hepburn romantic comedy Roman Holiday! What kind of madman would think that up?!

Once you're in the '70s the tough economic times and various other factors meant very cheaply produced films catering almost exclusively to children, but these films are still pretty fun. I think Godzilla vs. Gigan is the best of these super-cheesy films. Once you get to the revived series of the '80s to the '00s... well, I'm not the biggest fan. The '80s got off to a promising start with two films (Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biollante) that took a more serious, dark tone, but after that the films largely went back to the well of the more fanciful Godzilla films of the '60s - only less exciting, more retread-y, and a lot more boring. The '00s films generally followed this trend. 2001's Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah is the best modern Godzilla film (and the only one that takes advantage of the 'alternate universe' status of each of the '00s films). Other films from the '90s and '00s worth watching are Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (because of the whole, 'Godzilla Dies!' gimmick), and Godzilla 2000. 2004's Godzilla Final Wars is a total mess, but interesting. If you want a cure for insomnia watch 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra or 2002's Godzilla against Mechagodzilla!

[SiegePerilous02]

I think there is only a handful of decent films in every era. The original and Mothra vs. Godzilla are still probably the best films in the franchise, and Ghidorah's debut was fun, but the Showa era devolves into cheese pretty soon after. Megalon and Gigan being the epitome of badness. For Heisei, I loved Biollante and '84, but that's about it. Gamera really kicked Godzilla's ass in the Heisei era.

I haven't seen any of the Millennium films, though I heard great thinks about GMK.

[Angilasman]

^Godzilla vs. Gigan is awesome. Corn-cob wielding hippie for the win.

[NK1988]

I didn't like Godzilla Final Wars. They made Hedorah into a punk and apparently it's all due to some guy named...Tanaka(?) hating GvH and promising that the guy who directed it would never work on a Godzilla film again.

That's what I read anyway. It's annoying, I would gladly watch Godzilla vs. Hedorah over Final Wars.

[Goggindowner]

The Golden Age of Godzilla, and kaiju in general, was the 1960s. No era has outmatched this one in regards to fun, interesting, inventive films. Godzilla went from villian, to anti-hero, to hero - although always a tentative hero, just as ready to smash us as to save us from the baddies. Most of the best Godzilla foes were introduced. This was also the most prolific era of the series as it was at the height of its popularity. The best 'straight' Godzilla sequel, Mothra vs. Godzilla (frequently considered the best) was released the same year as the (in my opinion) funniest Godzilla sequel, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, which was followed a year later by the Star Trek-like sci-fi film, Invasion of Astro Monster. There was a lot of variety in these movies!

Special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya was a stickler for detail, but more inclined towards the fanciful than toward realism, and this decade has the most striking visuals of the series. I don't care how sophisticated special effects become, things like scene composition are timeless. Look at the rather humdrum shots of Godzilla in many '90s and '00s films compared to the usually dynamic shots of the '60s. Ishiro Honda, the first and greatest Godzilla director, directed most of the films during this period, while action director Jun Fukuda brought his lighter touch to two installments. Most of the films during this period were written by Shinichi Sekizawa, a wonderfully creative guy who would warp the series from simple sci-fi to genre mash-ups that combined action, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, musicals, and various movie genres. For instance, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster is heavily inspired by the Audrey Hepburn romantic comedy Roman Holiday! What kind of madman would think that up?!

Once you're in the '70s the tough economic times and various other factors meant very cheaply produced films catering almost exclusively to children, but these films are still pretty fun. I think Godzilla vs. Gigan is the best of these super-cheesy films. Once you get to the revived series of the '80s to the '00s... well, I'm not the biggest fan. The '80s got off to a promising start with two films (Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biollante) that took a more serious, dark tone, but after that the films largely went back to the well of the more fanciful Godzilla films of the '60s - only less exciting, more retread-y, and a lot more boring. The '00s films generally followed this trend. 2001's Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah is the best modern Godzilla film (and the only one that takes advantage of the 'alternate universe' status of each of the '00s films). Other films from the '90s and '00s worth watching are Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (because of the whole, 'Godzilla Dies!' gimmick), and Godzilla 2000. 2004's Godzilla Final Wars is a total mess, but interesting. If you want a cure for insomnia watch 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra or 2002's Godzilla against Mechagodzilla!

I think I agree with the undertone of your point, which is basically that the Showa Era is the most interesting simply because it is the original. The Heisei and Millennium eras, from what I have seen, are mostly just retreading old material and doing it a much less interesting way. Honestly, not everything from Showa was enjoyable for me. I didn't care for the addition of Minilla or the inclusion of Jet Jaguar, but the Mechagodzilla movies I really enjoyed (especially the first one, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla), and everything up to and including Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster is probably what I would consider the best run of the franchise. The Heisei Era Ghidorah movie was an abomination and the only movie from that era I have seen in its entirety other than 1985.

[Calighoula]

The '80s got off to a promising start with two films (Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biollante) that took a more serious, dark tone, but after that the films largely went back to the well of the more fanciful Godzilla films of the '60s - only less exciting, more retread-y, and a lot more boring. The '00s films generally followed this trend. 2001's Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah is the best modern Godzilla film (and the only one that takes advantage of the 'alternate universe' status of each of the '00s films). Other films from the '90s and '00s worth watching are Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (because of the whole, 'Godzilla Dies!' gimmick), and Godzilla 2000. 2004's Godzilla Final Wars is a total mess, but interesting. If you want a cure for insomnia watch 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra or 2002's Godzilla against Mechagodzilla!

I've owned the 2002 version of GvMechaG for years but I've yet to watch it. I like the version produced a decade earlier. The run of movies starting with Godzilla 1984/5 is great for the most part, except I've never been a serious fan of Mothra like everyone else, and the one with Space Godzilla is probably the only G-film I've ever seen apart from the Emmerich travesty that I wanted to end sooner than its projected running time.