What about Showa makes it your favorite era?

[Turtleman]

What is it about this great era that makes you love it so much? The creativity? The monsters? The zany plots?

One thing that makes it the best in my opinion is just how unrestricted it felt. Unlike films from the Heisei, Millennium, and now Legendary series, the Showa stuff feels so out there and absurd at times. You really get the feeling(for the later films at least) that the writers and directors were given more creative control and it really shows in how outlandish some of the films could get.

I also love the variety. Due to the sheer amount of movies contained in this series, there's tons of different genres experimented with. From the really dark, atmospheric Gojira, to the 60's sci-fi influenced Monster Zero, and the early 70's psychadelic influenced Hedorah. Having these films span over 20 years really gives an interesting window into the styles of the time each movie was made.

I also love the loose continuity with the series, especially when you include non-G films like Rodan, Mothra, Varan, etc. It allows fans to have fun with the canon when trying to piece together all the movies to fit into the universe.
That's only a few reasons, but there's a lot more I could talk about since I really love this era.

[Gojora]

Hmmm....
It's either king kong vs godzilla or the fact godzilla's a hero later on.
But it's the creativity that makes it my favorite i mean look at that thing.

LOOK AT IT!

[he-ba]

Whenever I think of the Showa, I always think of how fun, crazy, and at the same time, amazing the whole 21 year span is!

Turtleman, I love how you brought up the notion that the canon can be conformed to how the fans really want to, even though there is none, unlike the heisei, where the only continuity you can follow is the one given, and while it's fun to figure it out (i.e. GvKG) it still doesn't give that... fantasy-element like the showa.

[UltramanGoji]

The sheer variety of genres and themes. One film could be a serious space drama while the next could be a goofy crime film.

[Turtleman]

Whenever I think of the Showa, I always think of how fun, crazy, and at the same time, amazing the whole 21 year span is!

Turtleman, I love how you brought up the notion that the canon can be conformed to how the fans really want to, even though there is none, unlike the heisei, where the only continuity you can follow is the one given, and while it's fun to figure it out (i.e. GvKG) it still doesn't give that... fantasy-element like the showa.

Exactly! That's one of the reasons I like Heisei the least out of all the eras. It just seemed so strict in following its own rules, and never seemed to have a lot of fun with its movies. I love thinking about how stuff like War of the Gargantuas and Varan the Unbelievable can be woven into the Godzilla series fabric. You get much more of a sense of wonder with the Showa stuff in my opinion.

Another I like is the variety of suits used. Though I guess that could be seen as a continuity flaw, but oh well. I can easily look past that and accept it. I think it's interesting seeing the different designs, especially when the design helps reflect the tone of the movie.

[ILL GREEN]

I love the shows era for its color and saturations of the films. Colors just pop. Also the unrestricted themes of each movie just made you wonder what is in store for the next film. Godzilla was a villain, hero, went around the globe, he went to space, he fought against serious odds, he swims, he flies, has charisma and magnetization.

[Legion1979]

It's easily the most entertaining, sincere and diverse era. Period.

[MDK]

The movies weren't just made to sell toys.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I've always loved the concept of Monster Island. The monsters weren't just one off critters that always got killed at the end of each film. Most kaiju were brought back multiple times and felt more like a comic book heroes/villains. Also loved how each monster had its own distinct design and personality and powers. Then, as a few have said, there's just the overall outlandish sense of fun, excitement, and inventiveness of the films. Few franchises, except maybe James Bond, can match it in that sense.

[three]

it's not my favorite, but there really does seem to be a lot of nostalgia and entertainment value there for me. i can pick up just about any one of the Showa films (with a few exceptions) and watch them at any point in the movie and still enjoy it all the same. it's great.

[JAGzilla]

Besides the many good points already mentioned, I love the designs of the monsters. There was so much variety and life to them. Too many modern kaiju get bogged down in trying to be 'realistic' or 'badass', and lose the simple charm and fun that made their ancestors so beloved.

[GTU]

In general the Showa films have interesting, entertaining, and occasionally funny characters I can care about.

[LegendZilla]

The nostalgia factor.

[three]

The nostalgia factor.

Ah cmon, man! There's gotta be more than just that!!

[he-ba]

Gigan is cowardly? Maybe in Godzilla vs Megalon, but certainly not Godzilla vs Gigan

[three]

Gigan is cowardly? Maybe in Godzilla vs Megalon, but certainly not Godzilla vs Gigan

Doesn't he dip there, too, and let Ghidorah do the hard work? Gigan, man, always shirking responsibility.

[Pkmatrix]

Gigan always came across to me as opportunist and self-serving, not so much cowardly. Got a partner? Make him do the work. Things not going your way? Cut your losses and bail, 'cause nothing is worth giving up your life for. He's pretty obviously a mercenary in his attitude (I'd love to see them make that official too, it'd be a cool extra dimension to add to him).

As I've said in the past, I find it easier to point to specific decades as my favorites rather than the whole bloc of Showa. For me, my favorite Showa decade is the '60s and a BIG reason for that is Shinichi Sekizawa. I love Sekizawa's writing throughout the '60s - the way he constructs his plots, his characters, the tone...just awesome. ^_^

(Honda's direction, Ifukube's scores, and Tsubaraya's FX work are just icing on the cake. ^_^)

[Gerdzerl]

Gigan always came across to me as opportunist and self-serving, not so much cowardly. Got a partner? Make him do the work. Things not going your way? Cut your losses and bail, 'cause nothing is worth giving up your life for. He's pretty obviously a mercenary in his attitude (I'd love to see them make that official too, it'd be a cool extra dimension to add to him).

As I've said in the past, I find it easier to point to specific decades as my favorites rather than the whole bloc of Showa. For me, my favorite Showa decade is the '60s and a BIG reason for that is Shinichi Sekizawa. I love Sekizawa's writing throughout the '60s - the way he constructs his plots, his characters, the tone...just awesome. ^_^

(Honda's direction, Ifukube's scores, and Tsubaraya's FX work are just icing on the cake. ^_^)

How bout Gigan being both opportunistic AND cowardly?

[ILL GREEN]

Gigan is cowardly? Maybe in Godzilla vs Megalon, but certainly not Godzilla vs Gigan

Doesn't he dip there, too, and let Ghidorah do the hard work? Gigan, man, always shirking responsibility.

Actually it was Gigan doing the hard work while Ghidorah laid back in the cut. After Godzilla regenerated and broke his arms, that's when he left and let Ghidorah face Goji.

[edgaguirus]

I like the variety of monsters. The staff had some truely odd and creative ideas for kaiju, and they are some of our favorites. Another aspect was the acting. There are some moments when it's not that good, but overall, the actors did a great job. Even if the movie was a little goofy/ odd, they took the job seriously and made it entertaining.