Showa Godzilla films with best and worst special effects

[Goji]

it always looked like a toy or something, but is it really a wind up? if so, than royal lolz for that one.

Yup, it sure was.

[wrongnote85]

wow

[Lain Of The Wired]

I kinda have a question about Godzilla 1954's atomic breath… The scenes where his atomic breath is more like him blowing on things and they explode into flames, what would be an accurate definition of that?
He blows radioactive wind that explodes on contact?

[Lain Of The Wired]

I kinda have a question about Godzilla 1954's atomic breath… The scenes where his atomic breath is more like him blowing on things and they explode into flames, what would be an accurate definition of that?
He blows radioactive wind that explodes on contact?

How could say that. (It was really water being sprayed XD)

Damn it...

[Jory]

Best: Godzilla.

Worst: Godzilla.

Sometimes within the same scene.

[Spuro]

The scene in MvG where Godzilla rises up out of the ground is pretty damn good. The part where he shakes the dirt off himself is a nice touch. Actually, most of the stuff in MvG is pretty good.

As for the worst... the very end of KKvG. Puppets on sticks fight!

[Voyager]

Another Bump for the decline of discussion.

As for best, I’d say Mothra vs Godzilla easily, and maybe ToMG with the best destruction scenes in the franchise.

Worst? Most of the puppets, like in Godzilla, GRA, KKvG, GTTHM, but overall I say GRA.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Overall the best that come to mind for me are Godzilla 1954, Mothra Vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster and the Mechagodzilla duology. I do remember being impressed with the wirework on Kumonga and the Kamacuras in Son of Godzilla. I can't really think of a Showa Godzilla film I would say has terrible effects all around, but some stuff I can think of:
-The close up of Godzilla's eyes moving in Raids Again (even if GRA is underrated in my opinion)
-Puppets in KKvsG
-Godzilla's obviously poor in quality head in the latter half of Sea Monster
-Tail sliding dropkick

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

Mothra vs. Godzilla, Monster Zero and DAM all have consistently impressive effects work. I'd say those three are up there for the best.

I hate to say it because I've recently become quite fond of the film, but King Kong vs. Godzilla might have the worst effects work of the Showa era, at least of the films that actually tried (didn't rely heavily on stock footage). Whether it's the suit or the puppets, Kong consistently looks laughably bad. The bluescreen effects are almost all terrible, too. And then there's the infamous claymation kick. To be fair, the pyrotechnics, the miniatures and the animation for Godzilla's ray are quite good but KKvG is still more of a mixed bag than most of the Showa films.

[Voyager]

People seem to forget the trashfire Godzilla puppet in GTTHM.

Also the Ghiodrah prop in Vs. Gigan and Zone Fighter is really bad.

[GojiDog]

Alot of the puppets used for close ups are terrible, and that's true pretty much across the board. Off the top of my head, the Godzilla 54 puppet is, um, the "best" one of those, and I'll let that speak for itself.

Best effects? I loved how Adult Mothra looks in both Mothra 61 and Mothra Vs. Godzilla. She looks beautiful and ferocious in her own movie, and in the 64 film, she looks very alive. Even little touches like the little slow breaths she takes before dying are really well done.

[eabaker]

Alot of the puppets used for close ups are terrible, and that's true pretty much across the board. Off the top of my head, the Godzilla 54 puppet is, um, the "best" one of those, and I'll let that speak for itself.

There were arguments between Tsuburaya and Arikawa about the use of those puppets, with Arikawa feeling that their failure to match the suits was too distracting, and Tsuburaya insisting that the action and dramatic impact outweighed the consistency concern. Later, when Arikawa took over as effects director, he found himself on the opposite side of the same argument with his own crews.

I'd say that the 64 puppet is probably the best of the lot, though it has the advantage of not being shown off quite as thoroughly as the 54 puppets.

[Gigantis]

For best, i gotta go with a tie between Mothra vs. Godzilla and GTTHM. All of the monsters look superb and the suit makers were on their a-game!

For worst...either Godzilla vs. Gigan for the falling apart suits or that one scene in KKVG with the puppets.