The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

For the discussion of Toho produced and distributed films or shows released before 1980.
Post Reply
User avatar
Ganimes_Is_Valid
Ronin
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:59 am
Location: Sergio Island

The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Ganimes_Is_Valid »

Full disclosure this is just going to be me gushing about how much I love the Showa Era. If you were hoping for a brilliant thesis using facts & logic to prove that my opinion is correct...well your first mistake for expecting anything "brilliant" on a forum. So prepare yourself for my extremely biased opinion.

The Showa Era is the best Era in Kaiju history. It doesn't matter if it's Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman or Zone Fighter. Every piece of Kaiju media created in this Era just radiates an infectious upbeat energy. They're completely unashamed of what they are and present everything with such earnestness that you can't help but smile. They have a "heart" to them that's missing for later films. They're also able to do all that while shirking the elements that bog down most of the Heisei & Millennium films. And define those "Monsterverse" movies...blegh.

King Kong is a good example of what I'm saying. The Toho incarnations of Kong are the only ones I like. He's a big goofy Monkey and Toho isn't ashamed of it. Free from the shackles of the superficial elements of his other incarnation. Toho's Kong is free to do anything he want's. Like fight his robot double or wrestle with Ebirah, sucks that we'll never see that. Side note, his King Kong vs Godzilla design is his best one. But the King Kong Escapes design is pretty kino too.

Same with Gamera! Those Heisei films turned me off from the character. But Good Godzilla! Did those Showa films bring me around. I'll take the Friend of all Children over the Guardian of the "Universe" anyday. At least Gamera the Brave was good. Toto is easily Gamera's best design, fight me.

So in closing. The Showa Era is the best Era because it's the only one that feels earnest to me. Oh and here are a couple more "hot" takes before I finish. Guiron is easily Gamera's best opponent. Minilla is one of Toho's best Kaiju. I love him to death and will never understand the jaded heartless pricks who hate him. Gabara is one of my all time favorite Kaiju and he deserves a return. SpaceGodzilla and the Heisei incarnations of King Ghidorah & Mechagodzilla have some of the worst designs that Toho has ever produced. Oh and Godziban is the best piece of Godzilla media to be released since GMK. Watch Godziban, I mean it!

User avatar
_JNavs_
Keizer
Posts: 9647
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2019 7:59 pm
Location: New York

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by _JNavs_ »

So many scorchingly hot takes here
Last edited by _JNavs_ on Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
____________________________ImageImage___________________________
Instagram: @Lord.Gojira

User avatar
Terasawa
Xilien Halfling
Posts: 5841
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:06 am

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Terasawa »

Ganimes_Is_Valid wrote:They're also able to do all that while shirking the elements that bog down most of the Heisei & Millennium films. And define those "Monsterverse" movies...blegh.
What are these elements?
寺沢. He/him/his, etc.

User avatar
UltramanGoji
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 17719
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:40 am

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by UltramanGoji »

Oh, I get it.
Image

User avatar
Spuro
Keizer
Posts: 9532
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Monster Island

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Spuro »

UltramanGoji wrote:Oh, I get it.
Is there something to get?
eabaker wrote: You can't parse duende.
Breakdown wrote: HP Lovecraft's cat should be the ultimate villain of the MonsterVerse.

User avatar
Gigantis
Sazer
Posts: 10492
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:52 pm
Location: Nebula of the Orion

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Gigantis »

Kaiju-King42 wrote:
Is there something to get?
I'm gonna guess he's thinking this is a joke post? Although i don't think it is.
Image

A guy who randomly stumbled upon this place one day, invested much too much time into it, and now appears to be stuck here for all eternity..and strangely enough, i do not regret it!

User avatar
Voyager
Keizer
Posts: 7828
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:34 pm
Location: On a boat

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Voyager »

This is perfect.
Image
For Emperor and Empire!

User avatar
Kaltes-Herzeleid
JXSDF Technician
Posts: 1086
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:07 pm
Location: The Great Tomb of Nazarick

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Kaltes-Herzeleid »

Ganimes_Is_Valid wrote:King Kong is a good example of what I'm saying. The Toho incarnations of Kong are the only ones I like.
Regardless of whether or not this is a shitpost or not, I agree with this. King Kong Vs. Godzilla and Skull Island are the only Kong movies I like.

And yes, Guiron is kino.
Resized Image

edgaguirus
Keizer
Posts: 8563
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:25 pm

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by edgaguirus »

The Showa era does have the most creativity and wasn't afraid to embrace the camp. The era, including Gamera and other kaiju, produced an entertaining body of work.
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him.

User avatar
Ganimes_Is_Valid
Ronin
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:59 am
Location: Sergio Island

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Ganimes_Is_Valid »

Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote:
Ganimes_Is_Valid wrote:King Kong is a good example of what I'm saying. The Toho incarnations of Kong are the only ones I like.
Regardless of whether or not this is a shitpost or not, I agree with this. King Kong Vs. Godzilla and Skull Island are the only Kong movies I like.

And yes, Guiron is kino.
It's not a shitpost I'm 100 percent serious. If I wanted to shitpost I would have done it in the meme section. And hell yeah man! I'll take Kong fist fighting other monsters over the 900th remake of his original film anyday. Guiron is such a good boy. Shame we'll probably never see him rebooted in a new Gamera film.

Added in 6 minutes 16 seconds:
edgaguirus wrote:The Showa era does have the most creativity and wasn't afraid to embrace the camp. The era, including Gamera and other kaiju, produced an entertaining body of work.
That's what I'm saying man! Scenes like Gamera's Olympic pole swing or Mothra coating Godzilla in silk while Rodan laughs his ass off never fail to make me grin like an idiot. The Showa Era is just fun.

User avatar
Terasawa
Xilien Halfling
Posts: 5841
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:06 am

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Terasawa »

Even when it comes to monster movies there's more to filmmaking than just special effects and plot. This is why I think the Showa Series films are mostly better than what came afterwards. I think photography, direction, acting, scoring, editing, and screenwriting (especially in the integration of theme) are all consistently better in the '50s and '60s than in the films made since. (That's not to say that none of those elements are all awful in later Godzilla movies.)

I know some people don't like these movies because they're perceived to be less serious than other Godzilla films. I disagree with how this is usually quantified. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II striving to be a more serious or grounded film than Monster Zero has no direct bearing on the quality of either film. There are intentionally silly elements in GxM, GxMG, and GFW, and those movies are usually ranked pretty high by the same people who decry Godzilla's Planet X dance and tail slide.
寺沢. He/him/his, etc.

User avatar
Gailah 1966
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 318
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 11:30 am
Location: gog

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Gailah 1966 »

Also the showa sci-fi movies are the best ;)
BIG FAN SURVEY 2023 --> viewtopic.php?t=34920
BIG FAN SURVEY 2020 --> viewtopic.php?t=30470
Video of 2020´s results --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUxyzsQxwa4

User avatar
MaxRebo320
EDF Instructor
Posts: 2893
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:56 pm
Location: albaquarky
Contact:

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by MaxRebo320 »

I think its very fair to say the Showa period is the best era for Japanese cinema as a whole. I literally cannot see anybody denying that.
Beta Capsule Reviews - Your Guide to Ultraman & other Tokusatsu episode-by-episode!
https://betacapsulereviews.wordpress.com
three wrote:leave me be maxrebo! damn you and your ability to play the game here....

edgaguirus
Keizer
Posts: 8563
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:25 pm

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by edgaguirus »

No one here, anyway.
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him.

User avatar
GojiraXDAN
Samurai
Posts: 54
Joined: Mon May 14, 2012 6:07 pm
Contact:

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by GojiraXDAN »

Oh, I very much agree! Just the Sheer volume put out by Toho Alone between 1954 - 1975 was fantastic! Especially in the 60s. And then there's Ultraman and Gamera, like to be a kid growing up in Japan at this time would be pure bliss. The Quality of Effects from Tsuburya and Co still look great to me, Better than anything in the 90's Godzilla/Mothra films minus 90's Gamera (Which are still top tier in my mind). I certainly count it as my favorite era of Kaiju Media.

Plus it was basically a cinematic universe before it became popular. Even A lot of the Non Kaiju Effects movies are great. Theres just sooo much to love about the Showa Era.
Last edited by GojiraXDAN on Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
My Youtube! Go Check out some of my GMVS and AMVS!: http://www.youtube.com/user/thejoker9998?feature=mhee

User avatar
LSD Jellyfish
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 14252
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:57 pm

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

MaxRebo320 wrote:I think its very fair to say the Showa period is the best era for Japanese cinema as a whole. I literally cannot see anybody denying that.
There’s a lot of fantastic stuff that’s been continually been put out since the 1990s. There’s some stuff that appeals to your aunt, like Ichiro Dreams of Sushi and Departures. There’s been some anime classics like Spirited Away and Howl’s moving castle. Lots of great yakuza films, especially with beat takeshi (although that guy is also a prick). Lots of really weird subversive stuff I like, (Tag, cold fish, one cut of the dead). And of course Shin. There was also this really good rom com I saw a year or two ago that I saw at the japan society but the name alludes me).

IMO it’s not that the stuff that is out now isn’t as good as before, it’s just that there’s a lot more crap being pushed out that degrades the industry. Lots of crappy live action anime films, or anime films.

I think during the major showa era, people with visions were in charge making new stuff. Those people still exist now, but are making low budget indie films of varying quality.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

User avatar
Kaltes-Herzeleid
JXSDF Technician
Posts: 1086
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:07 pm
Location: The Great Tomb of Nazarick

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by Kaltes-Herzeleid »

LSD Jellyfish wrote: I think during the major showa era, people with visions were in charge making new stuff. Those people still exist now, but are making low budget indie films of varying quality.
So basically what happened with cinema in the west too, sadly.
Resized Image

User avatar
GodzillaXGomoraFight
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:18 pm
Location: Brooklyn, New York

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by GodzillaXGomoraFight »

The Heisei may be my personal favorite of all Godzilla eras due partially to nostalgia (it is what I grew up with mostly), but if you take into account the other kaiju/tokusatsu media from the time, the Showa era wins hands down. The Showa era has the benefit of decades of film and television where the genre was founded and developed over multiple franchises. There is a reason why people say that the late 50s to the mid 60s is considered as the Golden Age of Kaiju cinema.
Image

User avatar
LockBite
JXSDF Technician
Posts: 906
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:21 am

Re: The Showa Era is the best Era in Godzilla/Kaiju History

Post by LockBite »

I actually agree that the Showa era is the best. But man, OP could’ve explained why without criticizing the other eras so heavily.

Post Reply