Rank the Heisei Godzilla Films

[godjacob]

Alright this should be fun.
1. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
2. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
3. Godzilla vs. Biollante
4. Return of Godzilla
5. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
6. Godzilla vs. Mothra
7. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

Note even the film I have ranked last I still enjoyed more than I didn't. The Heisei era didn't produce a movie I disliked personally.

[king_ghidorah]

1. Return of Godzilla
2. Biollante
3. Destroyah
4. King Ghidorah
5. MG 2
6. Mothra
7. Space G

[JAGzilla]

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.

I don't remember much in the way of harassment or creeping, but I do remember that he risked his life charging into a kaiju warzone to save Azusa. Awkward and annoying or not, the dude was pretty okay when it came down to it.

Anyway, choosing your dumb popcorn movies made by a foreign culture decades ago based on how they conform to this week's American political correctness standards seems like a pretty dull, restrictive way to go. It sucks if the guy was creepy, but that occupies maybe two or three minutes out of a lazily written full-length movie about robots shooting dinosaurs. Come on.

[king_ghidorah]

Man. That post deserves a standing ovation in my book. Wow.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

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.

I don't really feel like Aoki is creepy, he's got a nerdy obsession with the pteranodon Baby Godzilla egg, not with Asuza. The robot pteranodon scene is pretty cringe but it doesn't come off to me like he's trying to force himself on her. If you want a creep in a Godzilla movie, look no further than Dr. Yuhara in Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, a film which many fans hold in higher regard than the '93 one. Dude is pretty relentless in his "flirtation" with an obviously disinterested Akane, who's also like half his age for bonus creep factor.

But to your original point, Destoroyah loses because it's poorly plotted with a cast of nothing characters. Say what you will about Aoki, I remember him much better than any character from GvD. They even had the nerve to bring back Momoko Kochi and give her absolutely nothing to do. GvD gives Godzilla a tragic death scene, has a cool kaiju villain and a great Ifukube score, and that's about it.

[StardustGenius]

Death of Superman vibes. Down to a similar enemy.

[SpaceGoji54]

1. Biollante
2. Return of Godzilla
Everything else can go anywhere, I don't care. It's all garbage, Heisei is has some of the worst movies.

[JVM]

It's news to me that people like The Return of Godzilla so much! When I was here for a long time it was probably the least popular Heisei film and the 1985 edit was generally seen as a welcome improvement on a boring and forgettable film in Japanese. When the international edit finally hit the US, a lot of people genuinely saw it as worthless. Maybe the accessibility increased its reputation. I liked it, but I don't know how I'd rank it.

[StardustGenius]

I like The Return of Godzilla a lot because its closer to the type of disaster/political thriller films Toho was working on in the 70s and 80s. Not everyone here has seen them, or has been influenced through that lens. Granted there are plenty of folks who HAVE and still think its a middling production. But that feel and general aesthetic (this movie was still filmed without cinemascope and LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE, unlike most of the Heisei films) is what attracts me the most to this movie. I can see Shinji Higuchi's work in this movie! The models look pretty dang good!

[Dv-218]

I like The Return of Godzilla a lot because its closer to the type of disaster/political thriller films Toho was working on in the 70s and 80s. Not everyone here has seen them, or has been influenced through that lens. Granted there are plenty of folks who HAVE and still think its a middling production. But that feel and general aesthetic (this movie was still filmed without cinemascope and LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE, unlike most of the Heisei films) is what attracts me the most to this movie. I can see Shinji Higuchi's work in this movie! The models look pretty dang good!

Good point in regards to the “movie” feel. Always felt Return looked the most cinematic out of the Heisei series by a long shot, both with the shot framing and the general scope, editing and pacing. Biollante still retains some of that imo, albeit to lesser extents due to how the shots and scenery are presented. Pretty wild contrast to the rest now that I think about it.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

I loved hearing Higuchi's story at G-Fest where he was the guy who was in charge of moving Godzilla's tail in Return. All about humble beginnings!

[VaranKOTM]

Godzilla and Mothra
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
The Return of Godzilla
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

[Legion1979]

Godzilla and Mothra
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
The Return of Godzilla
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

Just curious about what puts Mothra so high for you.

[Saturndusk]

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

[FlawedCoil82]

So strange seeing how people are ranking these. I judge all Godzilla movies by what I care most about; the monster scenes and battles. Therefore, my ranking is like this:

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

[JAGzilla]

So strange seeing how people are ranking these.

Yep, we here at TK exist to be contrary. Whatever Joe G-Fan on the street would do, we do the opposite on principle.

[godjacob]

So strange seeing how people are ranking these.

Yep, we here at TK exist to be contrary. Whatever Joe G-Fan on the street would do, we do the opposite on principle.

So TK is the "not like the other girls" of Godzilla fans?

[Gojira1604]

Mothra
Destoroyah
King Ghidorah
84
Mechagodzilla 2
Biollante
Spacegodzilla

[shadowgigan]

ROG
Biollante
King Ghidorah
Destoroyah
Mecha Godzilla
Space Godzilla
Mothra

Although my rankings change a lot, 1 and 2 are almost always the same.

[CyberZilla]

Mothra
Destoroyah
King Ghidorah
84
Mechagodzilla 2
Biollante
Spacegodzilla

Ok I gotta hear why you like Battle for Earth so much (genuine interest!)