Favorite kaiju movies of people who don’t like kaiju movies

[SpiderZilla]

While talking about Lake Texarkana Gamera in another topic someone made the comment, “There are people who have sat through that entire thing... more than once???” That got me wondering …

My adult son does not like kaiju movies. I’ve tried several times to get him interested but nothing worked. But he does like Lake Texarkana Gamera and we’ve watched it together several times.

Are there people in your life who like only one or two kaiju movies? Which movies?

[Voyager]

G14. Not much to be said there.

[eabaker]

I've found that people who aren't particularly interested in the genre tend to respond to the more mature/politically-themed entries like Gojira, GMK and Shin.

[Legion1979]

Personally, I think the very first Godzilla movie should always be the first one you start with, ESPECIALLY if you're bent on showing Godzilla movies to someone who isn't a fan.

[Tohosaurus]

I would speculate by and large one would mainly show movies "critically" at the top of the kaiju world, or specific classics.

For Toho movies, probably:
Godzilla (54)
Rodan
Mothra
War of the Gargantuas
Dogora
Godzilla vs Hedorah (highly dependent on how someone would receive its quirkiness, as for many it'll be entirely too bizarre or silly)
All Monsters Attack (also highly dependent on the individual, but could be meaningful given how much of it ends up being a commentary on late-1960s Japanese society versus any concern with being an actual Godzilla movie)
Return of Godzilla
Godzilla vs Biollante (maybe; the spirit/soul subplotting might be a little much)
Shin Godzilla

I'll probably get hate for this, but candidly I wouldn't be surprised if Shin Godzilla was the single best Godzilla title to introduce to the majority of people. It's contemporary and high-quality. The 1954 original is far more an icon and important than Shin ever will be, but that doesn't make it as accessible to "non-film/kaiju people". But if they can enjoy classic movies, 1954 would be the way to go.

Looking beyond Toho (moving slightly OT I suppose?), there are several depending on how mainstream or artsy you want to be. The Daimajin trilogy, Gamera trilogy, first Pacific Rim, King Kong's 33 and 05 movies, Trollhunter, Cloverfield and the MonsterVerse would be strong contenders among conventional modern and classic movies, with something more artsy being Monsters or Colossal.