Rank the Heisei Godzilla Films

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

We have one for Showa, so why not Heisei? I just finished a Heisei rewatch so it seemed an apt time to make this thread. Rank the 7 Heisei Godzilla films from best to worst, or favorite to least favorite, or both.

My list:
1 - The Return of Godzilla
2 - Godzilla vs. Biollante
3 - Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
4 - Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
5 - Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
6 - Godzilla vs. Mothra
7 - Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla

RoG and GvB are classics on par with most of the better Showa films. GvKG, GvMG and GvD are all a good fun watch despite their flaws. GvM is pretty forgettable. GvSG is pretty regrettable.

[Spuro]

Best to Worst (Only in my humble opinion, of course):

1 – The Return of Godzilla
2 - Godzilla vs Biollante
3 - Godzilla vs Destoroyah
4 - Godzilla vs Mothra
5 - Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2
6 - Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (I'm sorry, I've tried to appreciate this one, but every time I watch it, its glaring flaws just become more apparent)
7 - Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla

There's quite a jump in quality between Biollante and Destoroyah.

[StardustGenius]

1) Biollante
2) Return Of Godzilla
3) King Ghidorah
4) Mechagodzilla II
5) Destoroyah
6) Mothra
7) Spacegodzilla.

I think my issues with vs Mothra are entirely story related. Tokusatsu-wise I'd say there are some pretty dang good sequences there. The Volcano scene in vs Mothra is way better than the one in vs Biollante. The lighting and camera work, and everything in between from music use and suit acting is on point.

[Voyager]

1) Vs Mechagodzilla 2
2) Vs Destoroyah
3) Vs Biollante
4) Vs King Ghidorah
5) Vs Mothra
6) Return of Godzilla
7) Vs SpaceGodzilla

[ShinGojira14]

1. Return of Godzilla
2. Godzilla vs Biollante
3. Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla (1993)
4. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
5. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
6. Godzilla vs Mothra
7. Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla

[canofhumdingers]

1. Return of Godzilla
2. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
3. Godzilla vs Biollante
4. Godzilla vs Destroyer
5. Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla
6. Godzilla vs Mothra
7. Godzilla vs Space Godzilla

Just like in the Showa thread I tried out the preference revealer. It was definitely accurate. I’d say Mothra and MechaGodzilla are a dead tie and could be completely interchangeable. SpaceGodzilla is still my least favorite Godzilla movie of all (Gino doesn’t count as a Godzilla movie) though I don’t completely hate it like I used to. Also, films 2-4 are all very closely ranked, but if you forced me to put them in order, that would be it. At least for today haha.

[darthzilla99]

1. Return of Godzilla
2. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2
3. Godzilla vs Biollante
4. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
5. Godzilla vs Destroyah
6. Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla
7. Godzilla vs Mothra

[LegendZilla]

Interesting to see G84 as the #1 choice for most people around here. If anyone's gonna treat that movie like it's supposed to live up to the original, they're gonna be disappointed.

[Legion1979]

Interesting to see G84 as the #1 choice for most people around here. If anyone's gonna treat that movie like it's supposed to live up to the original, they're gonna be disappointed.

...who says people are treating the movie like it's supposed to live up to the original? Why would you think that's what they're doing? Maybe they just think it's better than a lot of the other films in this series, because in many respects it is.

[canofhumdingers]

Yeah. If we were ranking the entire Godzilla film library I bet most people would rank ‘54 higher than ‘84.

For me personally it would depend on how we were ranking them. If it was based on what we think are the best movies, G’54 would easily be above ‘84. But if we were ranking them in terms of personal favorites, ‘84 would come above ‘54 on my list.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I'm very happy to see the love for The Return of Godzilla so far. I expected Biollante to top almost every list! For me, RoG is the best Heisei film by a pretty huge margin; out of the entire Godzilla series, I'd rank it 4th.

[StardustGenius]

RoG contains a lot of the tropes that I liked in Toho's 70s disaster movies. To me, its a continuation of that genre, and sfx-wise its about on the same level.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

RoG contains a lot of the tropes that I liked in Toho's 70s disaster movies. To me, its a continuation of that genre, and sfx-wise its about on the same level.

I haven't seen any of the 70s disaster films... which ones would you recommend?

[StardustGenius]

RoG contains a lot of the tropes that I liked in Toho's 70s disaster movies. To me, its a continuation of that genre, and sfx-wise its about on the same level.

I haven't seen any of the 70s disaster films... which ones would you recommend?

All of them! For different reasons. If I could recommend just two, Submersion Of Japan is probably the the best of them, but its really long for some folks. Lots of political talking, but I love that kind of stuff. Its quite a bleak movie. But its quite a good looking movie. Masaru Sato does the score. Prophecies Of Nostradamus is a must watch. It's not exactly a GOOD movie, but it is absolutely a movie that will stay with you. A good chunk of the creative staff from Vs Hedorah worked on it, and I think you'll see exactly why. It's a beautiful looking movie, even with the VHS transfers drifting around on the internet.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I've always been interested in Prophecies of Nostradamus, I think it's about time I got around to watching it! I have 4 movies left in my full Godzilla series rewatch, gonna do Prophecies as soon as that's finished. I don't know as much about Submersion of Japan but I've heard good things; I'll probably check that one out soon, too.

[JAGzilla]

The top three are honestly good, up there with Honda, Kaneko, and Anno. The middle two are much weaker, but Ifukube carries them on his back and there's enough punchy spectacle to keep them fun. Number six is down in the mud, above the Anime Trilogy and roughly on par with GINO or GvK.

1. Godzilla vs. Biollante
2. Return of Godzilla
3. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

4. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

6. Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

I haven't seen Godzilla vs. Mothra in over a decade, so I can't fairly rank it. And... in all fairness... I haven't watched GvSG on Blu-ray yet, just shitty old low-definition TV or Crackle broadcasts. The BR treatment (such as it is) beefed up GvMG and GvD for me, so maybe they can help SG out, too.

[MogeGoji1994]

1. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
3. Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla
4. Godzilla vs Biollante
5. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
6. Return of Godzilla
7. Godzilla vs Mothra

Talk about an unpopular set of opinions around here for my ranking

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

1) Godzilla vs Charles Barkley

[StardustGenius]

That's the best choice actually. ILM Heisei Godzilla

[Spuro]

Not gonna lie, I'm quite baffled that GvMG2 is consistently beating out GvD in your guy's rankings. I don't know how you guys can look past that ultra-creepy Pterandon-fanboy character. He's always harassing and creeping on women and somehow it's played off as romantic. Yeugh.

One too many heebie jeebies spoil that entry for me.