Godzilla: 20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know

In 2013, Guillermo Del Toro released his sci-fi film, Pacific Rim, where humans control gargantuan robots to battle interdimensional monsters. Because Del Toro said Pacific Rim was inspired by kaiju movies like Godzilla, the word "kaiju" become synonymous with "giant monster movies" in the Western world.

But are Godzilla and Pacific Rim considered kaiju movies?

Yes. Yes, they are.

But most of the movies in the Godzilla franchise aren't. How can that be? There are monsters in every film, right? So what gives?

Let me explain. A "kaiju" doesn't just mean any film that has a monster in it. A kaiju film revolves around a giant monster that attacks a city. That definition applies to the original Godzilla film and the 1998 American adaptation (which is terrible).

However, if a movie mainly revolves around two or more giant monsters battling each other, it is referred to as a daikaiju movie. The two recent American Godzilla films would be classified as daikaiju films, not kaiju films. Although Del Toro used the term "kaiju" correctly, many monster fans incorrectly use the word when discussing the genre.