Unpopular Godzilla Opinions

[Major sssspielberg!]

I dunno, when I was a kid Showa Gamera was so bad it's good kinda entertainment. I enjoy them more as an adult honestly, which might be a sign that I'm regressing lmao

[Spuro]

I mean they’re not THAT bad (for the most part) but they’re still not good movies by any stretch of the imagination

I’ll argue in favor of Gamera vs Barugon being pretty decent, actually.

[_JNavs_]

The OG was a banger

[Voyager]

Barugon and Gyaos are the only ones I can really sit through.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I mean they’re not THAT bad (for the most part) but they’re still not good movies by any stretch of the imagination

I’ll argue in favor of Gamera vs Barugon being pretty decent, actually.

I second Gamera vs. Barugon being pretty decent; it's the only Showa Gamera flick that doesn't make me cringe when I'm sober.

[edgaguirus]

Barugon and Gyaos are the only ones I can really sit through.

Those are the best of the Showa Gamera, but I also like vs Jiger and vs Zigra. Jiger is a weird movie, but Jiger herself is a great kaiju and I like the Fantastic Voyage angle of the movie. Zigra has an interesting design, and the female lead looks good in a bikini.

[Voyager]

Barugon and Gyaos are the only ones I can really sit through.

Those are the best of the Showa Gamera, but I also like vs Jiger and vs Zigra. Jiger is a weird movie, but Jiger herself is a great kaiju and I like the Fantastic Voyage angle of the movie. Zigra has an interesting design, and the female lead looks good in a bikini.

I like Zigra, but I can only watch it in parts at a time.

[Spuro]

The ending of Zigra is fucking hilarious. The entire "Gamera playing his theme song by hitting Zigra's back like a xylophone and then dancing in joy" is just incredible.

[Voyager]

We can all agree Super Monster is an entirely different level of bad. I wouldn’t even compare it to any other Gamera film. It makes the Polygon trilogy and AMA look like masterpieces.

[miguelnuva]

I watched Barugon, Gurion, Gaos and Zigra as a kid so those 4 are soft spots for me.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

We can all agree Super Monster is an entirely different level of bad.

I think Super Monster is easily the worst kaiju movie of all time. Only Gappa and Yonggary (if you count it) are nearly as bad, but at least those two fall into "so bad it's good" territory. Super Monster is just so bad it's BAD.

[Spuro]

Super Monster is one of very, VERY few movies I've seen that I've given a 0/10 rating to. I'm sure there's a lot out there that's worse, but I don't make a habit of seeking them out.

[mikelcho]

We can all agree Super Monster is an entirely different level of bad.

I think Super Monster is easily the worst kaiju movie of all time. Only Gappa and Yonggary (if you count it) are nearly as bad, but at least those two fall into "so bad it's good" territory. Super Monster is just so bad it's BAD.

Which version of Yongary are you talking about here? From the spelling of the name, I'd say it's the 2001 second version, am I right?

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

Which version of Yongary are you talking about here? From the spelling of the name, I'd say it's the 2001 second version, am I right?

I actually meant the 1967 film. I only saw the remake on TV once when I was like 6 and I don't remember it nearly well enough to have an opinion. But I do know it's the lowest rated kaiju movie on IMDb with a whopping 2.6/10 (Super Monster has a 3.6), so it's probably even worse.

Added in 2 minutes 7 seconds:

Super Monster is one of very, VERY few movies I've seen that I've given a 0/10 rating to. I'm sure there's a lot out there that's worse, but I don't make a habit of seeking them out.

Most made-for-TV and The Asylum sci-fi/monster movies are as bad or worse but I avoid those like the plague when I'm sober, and occasionally throw them on for a laugh when I know I'll be too drunk to remember. I think the worst film I've ever seen is probably Robot Monster, which makes for great viewing if you want to play "home couch MST3K."

[LSD Jellyfish]

I think it's easy to say Super Monster is the worst mainstream kaiju film. However, it's also the saddest once you learn it's history. Daiei went bankrupt before the film was made and all the previous suits were lost in a fire. Who knows if stock footage heavy approach would have been used if everyting went down that way.

I often forget the film exists, and to me the Showa Gamera series ended with Zigra. I also forget, until I remind myself, that Gamera cannonically dies at the end of the Showa series, which is one of the stupidest things ever.

Yongary (1967) is bad, but I mean, at least it tried.

I agree with Jnavs that the original Gamera film is pretty awesome, the Japanese cut at least. Minus some weird tonal problems with the boy, it establishes and builds tension excellently, the destruction and minature scenes are well done, and Gamera itself is excellently handled. I've seen complaints online that it's in black and white, but I've always thought the film was pretty effective at utilizing that to it's advantage. Some of the fire really glows in the darkness and the entire thing is great.

[Executive Hamster]

The ending of Zigra is fucking hilarious. The entire "Gamera playing his theme song by hitting Zigra's back like a xylophone and then dancing in joy" is just incredible.

That sounds like the greatest moment in all of cinema and now I REALLY want to watch that.

[Voyager]

And Zigra is just sitting there like a idiot

[Legion1979]

And Zigra is just sitting there like a idiot

Well to be fair, he's pinned to the ground by a large rock stuck to his nose.

[_JNavs_]

I agree with Jnavs that the original Gamera film is pretty awesome, the Japanese cut at least. Minus some weird tonal problems with the boy, it establishes and builds tension excellently, the destruction and minature scenes are well done, and Gamera itself is excellently handled. I've seen complaints online that it's in black and white, but I've always thought the film was pretty effective at utilizing that to it's advantage. Some of the fire really glows in the darkness and the entire thing is great.

I don't recall which version I watched, probably the English one since it was on a triple feature with some leech horror movie when I was much, much younger. I'm shocked to hear there are complaints regarding the black and white, I think the BnW approach added a fantastic aesthetic, with the snow and Gamera himself being this dark menacing figure with glowing eyes, and as you said the fire itself, it all really played into the atmosphere.

[miguelnuva]

Gamera dragged a sea creature to the surface, trapped it on land then played his theme on his back. That might be more psychopathic than Godzilla running down and Killing Titanosaurus.

Also Super monster gets 1 star just for Gamera going out like a boss.