Showa Godzilla films with best and worst special effects

[MaxRebo320]

I am wondering what Showa Godzilla films you guys feel has the best special effects, and which one has the worst. As for the best, I'll have to go with either ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'', or ''Destroy All Monsters''. As for the worst, tough call between ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' and ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'', but I'll have to go with ''Gigan''. ''KKVG'' had good effects for the most part, aside from the horrendous Kong suit. (Really why was it that bad?) ''Gigan'' is just so cheesy, from toy humans, toy monsters, and just bad looking, worn out suits.

[Rody]

Invasion of Astro-Monster has to be a close second for best.

Godzilla Raids Again is probably a close second for worst.

[Dr. Nishiyama]

I am wondering what Showa Godzilla films you guys feel has the best special effects, and which one has the worst. As for the best, I'll have to go with either ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'', or ''Destroy All Monsters''. As for the worst, tough call between ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' and ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'', but I'll have to go with ''Gigan''. ''KKVG'' had good effects for the most part, aside from the horrendous Kong suit. (Really why was it that bad?) ''Gigan'' is just so cheesy, from toy humans, toy monsters, and just bad looking, worn out suits.

Toy humans? Where? If you're referring to Gigan's foot smashing thru a department store window, that's actually a miniature mannequin. Also, as for the shabby Kong suit, numerous explanations have come up over the years. One was Tsuburaya didn't want a scary Kng to frighten the kids in the audience, another was the suit makers couldn't come up with a design satisfactory for Tsuburaya. The most likely, I think, came from August's Tsuburaya book where he explained Toho ran out of money because the rights to Kong was so expensive (Godzilla's suit was built first) that they didn't have the budget to do the Kong suit Tsuburaya originally set out to build.

[Julia Bristow]

Best: Mothra vs Godzilla, each effects scene is just breathtaking, Invasion of Astro Monster, Godzilla (1954) except for the brief seconds of the wire holding Godzilla's tail being exposed

Worst: Godzilla Raids Again (the suits look bad & the head puppets looked extremely goofy, especially Godzilla's head puppet)

[MaxRebo320]

I am wondering what Showa Godzilla films you guys feel has the best special effects, and which one has the worst. As for the best, I'll have to go with either ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'', or ''Destroy All Monsters''. As for the worst, tough call between ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' and ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'', but I'll have to go with ''Gigan''. ''KKVG'' had good effects for the most part, aside from the horrendous Kong suit. (Really why was it that bad?) ''Gigan'' is just so cheesy, from toy humans, toy monsters, and just bad looking, worn out suits.

Toy humans? Where? If you're referring to Gigan's foot smashing thru a department store window, that's actually a miniature mannequin. Also, as for the shabby Kong suit, numerous explanations have come up over the years. One was Tsuburaya didn't want a scary Kng to frighten the kids in the audience, another was the suit makers couldn't come up with a design satisfactory for Tsuburaya. The most likely, I think, came from August's Tsuburaya book where he explained Toho ran out of money because the rights to Kong was so expensive (Godzilla's suit was built first) that they didn't have the budget to do the Kong suit Tsuburaya originally set out to build.

I personally think Kong looks creepy, due to the lack of pupils.

[PRIMEVAL]

Mothra vs Godzilla is definitely best. Worst I'm not so sure on, but probably either Godzilla Raids Again or Godzilla vs Gigan.

[FlamingZilla23]

Good: Destroy all monsters

Worst: Godzilla vs Gigan

[MaxRebo320]

''Ghidorah'' is very nicely done too, especially Ghidorah's morphing sequence.

[Tamura]

What's all this nonsense about KING KONG VS. GODZILLA faring the worst?

[Rody]

I'm wondering the same thing. Is it because of the Kong suit? That would be like saying SON OF GODZILLA has terrible effects because Goji and Minya are rather ugly.
Never mind the fantastic Kamacuras & Kumonga props, and the very convincing jungle stages.

[menschenjaeger]

^ Ditto for KKE. The Kong suit was bad, but it was a good bad, and the majority of the effects/miniatures are stunning.

BEST: It's a real coin-toss for me. Monster Zero and Mothra vs. Godzilla could both take that honor. Because of two bad process shots, I'm going to give it to Monster Zero...but if you ask me ten minutes later I might say the opposite.

WORST: Every movie seems to have at least one shot that just doesn't work. The worst ones I can think of are the saucers at the end of TOM, the troops getting out of the control truck in DAM, and the Ghidorah and Gigan puppets circling the tower in Godzilla vs. Gigan. I think the award goes to Godzilla vs. Gigan. I liked Megalon's freaky jumping so much that GvM didn't make it into contention for worst.

[Goji]

What's all this nonsense about KING KONG VS. GODZILLA faring the worst?

That's what I'm wondering.

Pointing out GIGAN and MEGALON seem like obvious choices..but most of the new SPX footage filmed for those was actually pretty good, and both films boast some really nice miniature work. It's the use of stock footage that hurts them, but, stock footage doesn't = "bad" effects. It doesn't work that way.

As for RAIDS AGAIN, the Godzilla and Angurius puppets and the immobile "wind up" Godzilla are really the only things that aren't all that great. Yes, the film was rushed, but it's got plenty of good SPX work. The "derp" complaints about the Godzilla suit are pretty overblown IMO; the suit itself isn't all that bad, and it's shot really well in the film (with the only "derp" moment being when he climbs out of the ice for the first time). Anguirus looks great. The miniature work is good. Most of it is good.

If I had to pick one, I guess it would be GIGAN, but even still, most of the new SPX were pretty good, all things considered.

[MaxRebo320]

^ Ditto for KKE. The Kong suit was bad, but it was a good bad, and the majority of the effects/miniatures are stunning.

BEST: It's a real coin-toss for me. Monster Zero and Mothra vs. Godzilla could both take that honor. Because of two bad process shots, I'm going to give it to Monster Zero...but if you ask me ten minutes later I might say the opposite.

WORST: Every movie seems to have at least one shot that just doesn't work. The worst ones I can think of are the saucers at the end of TOM, the troops getting out of the control truck in DAM, and the Ghidorah and Gigan puppets circling the tower in Godzilla vs. Gigan. I think the award goes to Godzilla vs. Gigan. I liked Megalon's freaky jumping so much that GvM didn't make it into contention for worst.

Ugh, the Gigan and Ghidorah puppets. Seriously, I could do better with my action figures. I mean, I can maybe live with Gigan remaining static, but Ghidorah's head all just sit there in different directions. It's awful! Also, the Godzilla Tower is friggin' huge!

[JAGzilla]

Much as I love KKvsG, I have to concede that it had some terrible effects. Haven't seen it in a while, but off the top of my head:

- The satellite. Which was only in the US version, though, so at least that wasn't Toho's doing.

- The Kong suit. I like it, but I'm not going to pretend it isn't one of the ugliest and most fake-looking suits in the series.

- The obvious doll Kong was carrying in the Tokyo attack scene.

- The action figures bouncing around in the scene where Kong is being tied to the balloons.

- The Oodako prop that was latched onto Kong's face. As a kid, I was convinced that Kong and Godzilla were giant, impossibly lifelike robots attacking full-size cities that were built for the movie. And the octopus still looked like a garbage bag to me.

And probably some stuff I'm forgetting. I don't know if I'd say this was the movie with the worst effects, though. GvsG's godawful Gigan and Ghidorah puppets might be bad enough to outweigh all of the above stuff.

[Goji]

The satellite is from THE MYSTERIANS. It looks just fine.

[JAGzilla]

^ Huh. Maybe it was Toho's doing, then. Well, regardless of the scene's realism, I've learned something today.

[Space Hunter M]

Umm, if I remember right, Oodako was an actual octopus.

That's true, but the scene he's referring to did indeed use a prop. Incidentally, there's some really cool test footage of a live octopus on the Unused Effects VHS.

[Goji]

My biggest problem with KKvsG's effects are the terrible blue bleeds on the matte shots.

Which nobody even mentioned in this topic. Funny how that works.

[Ethan]

Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monsters and Monster Zero have some of the best visuals of that era. Top notch stuff. Surely there's stuff we can nitpick about these films, but nothing unjustified by that period's standards. Space Amoeba does have some cringeworthy material, though I guess Nakano's inexperience at that time was the cause.

[Tamura]

^ Sadamasa Arikawa directed the special effects to SPACE AMOEBA. Nakano was only the assistant sfx director.