The Closest Kaiju Battle?

[Gojira1604]

What are some of the giant monster fights in fiction you found to be the most equally matched? Perhaps where it seemed it could go either way or was general extremely hard fought on both sides. Kong Vs Ramarak would be my selection.

[CamtheGodzillafan]

Zetton vs King Joe Black comes to my mind, as they were fighting almost equally, until EX Gomora showed up.

[Gojira 41mk11]

Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus. Neither of them were able to gain the upper hand and their fight ends in a complete deadlock.

[JAGzilla]

Most Pacific Rim battles are very close. The winner is typically in bad shape if they survive at all.

[edgaguirus]

The original fight between Ultraman and Mephilas was a draw. Neither one could gain an advantage in battle.

[CamtheGodzillafan]

Zeppandon vs Five King, they both blew each other up.

[EarthNeronga]

Godzilla vs Gigan Rex; The Fight was epic as hell and i liked how it made both seem extremely powerful; the beam clash was epic as hell and it made godzilla go to his limit to defeat Gigan Rex

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

First one that comes to mind is War of the Gargantuas. Gaira and Sanda have a lengthy fight with both landing plenty of blows and neither having a clear upper hand, right up until the moment a stupid deus ex machina totally realistic spontaneous undersea volcano incinerates them both. Sanda is larger and stronger but Gaira is more violent, and Sanda's leg injury evens the odds. One of the best and closest kaiju battles put to film, despite the disappointing ending.

The final battle of Godzilla X Mechagodzilla is worth a mention as well. Godzilla is clearly more powerful but, with its huge arsenal of weapons, Kiryu holds its own quite well and the battle ends in a draw, with both combatants too wounded to keep fighting but neither down for the count.

In almost every other kaiju battle I've seen, one party holds a clear advantage over the other. There are a few other exceptions - including Godzilla vs. Megalon, of all movies - but WotG and GxMG are the two best close battles in my opinion.

[LSD Jellyfish]

First one that comes to mind is War of the Gargantuas. Gaira and Sanda have a lengthy fight with both landing plenty of blows and neither having a clear upper hand, right up until the moment a stupid deus ex machina totally realistic spontaneous undersea volcano incinerates them both. Sanda is larger and stronger but Gaira is more violent, and Sanda's leg injury evens the odds. One of the best and closest kaiju battles put to film, despite the disappointing ending.

I had a recent thought about this, but I actually think that if it wasn't for the undersea volcano, Gaira was about to win. My reasoning is that Gaira can live underwater, for extended peroids of time. Meanwhile, I don't think Sanda can as he's not amphibious like Gaira. Sanda might have drowned. Maybe I'm wrong, and certainly if that was intended I could accept they should've emphasized it more, but that's a thought I had. The undersea volcano is lame though. It was a mistake to keep that in the film, but remove the sub-plot about the other Frankenstien cells proliferating and the greater destruction of Tokyo.

The final battle of Godzilla X Mechagodzilla is worth a mention as well. Godzilla is clearly more powerful but, with its huge arsenal of weapons, Kiryu holds its own quite well and the battle ends in a draw, with both combatants too wounded to keep fighting but neither down for the count.

Agreed.

It gets murky when you consider what is a victory, or close. Does falling into the sea count as a total victory? Or just a deterance?

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I had a recent thought about this, but I actually think that if it wasn't for the undersea volcano, Gaira was about to win. My reasoning is that Gaira can live underwater, for extended peroids of time. Meanwhile, I don't think Sanda can as he's not amphibious like Gaira. Sanda might have drowned. Maybe I'm wrong, and certainly if that was intended I could accept they should've emphasized it more, but that's a thought I had.

That's a good point and you're probably right. With the fight bringing them into Gaira's element, and Sanda's hurt leg no doubt hampering his swimming ability, I think Gaira would've won sooner or later. It's a shame that the film did nothing to show this beginning to happen.

Added in 2 minutes 3 seconds:

It gets murky when you consider what is a victory, or close. Does falling into the sea count as a total victory? Or just a deterance?

I think it depends on the context. Godzilla retreating to sea in GXMG was definitely a temporary deterrence. Kiryu sacrificially plunging Godzilla into the abyss in the following film was a victory, albeit a sacrificial one.

[SpiderZilla]

Godzilla and Hedorah seemed evenly matched at the end. I doubt that Godzilla would have won the final round without the electrodes built by the JSDF, which is fortunate since Hedorah consistently returned larger and stronger after each round with Godzilla.

[edgaguirus]

Another one is Kamoeba and Ganime. They both the same problem: Neither one could really hurt the other. Ganime couldn't crack that shell, and Kamoeba was having trouble getting in a good bite until the end.