8 Godzilla Films You Need To See

Intended to be the big G’s cinematic swansong (how often do you hear that?), Toho’s 28th Godzilla movie cuts right to the chase, opening with Godzilla being swallowed up by an earthquake before turning into a curious hybrid of Destroy All Monsters and The Matrix.

Once again, Toho’s monsters are demolishing the world’s capital cities, but this is just a prelude to the arrival of a supposedly benevolent alien race who claim a rogue star is on a collision course with the earth and can only be stopped by launching nuclear weapons. Can the aliens be trusted, or do they have an ulterior motive?

Packing more action and invention into two hours than The Matrix managed with two sequels, Final Wars is the send-off the big G deserved, with oodles of destructive mayhem and a plot that never takes a breath. Director Ryuhei Kitamura later went to the US to direct The Midnight Meat Train and No One Lives, giving you an idea of what to expect.